SINGAPORE – More than 6,400 people managed to avoid total losses of over $90 million during a two-month joint operation by the police’s Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) and six banks.

The banks are DBS Bank, UOB, OCBC Bank, HSBC, GXS and Standard Chartered Bank, the police said in a statement on Sept 6.

During the operation from July 1 to Aug 31, robotic process automation technology was used to detect potential victims of scams relating to jobs, investments, fake friend calls and e-commerce.

This allowed the police to intervene in ongoing scams by sending SMS alerts to those targeted to prevent any further monetary transfers from taking place.

In total, ASC officers sent 8,485 SMSes to 6,464 potential scam victims who are customers of the banks. This resulted in the disruption of some 2,016 scams, said the police.

The technology used in the operation automates information sharing and processing, enabling ASC officers and banks to quickly reach out to the potential victims. Only when contacted by the police and banks did the victims realise they had fallen prey to scams.

The police advised the public to adopt preventive measures such as not installing software from unverified sources and ensuring privacy when keying in personal particulars or bank login details.

They added that people should tell their friends and family about potential scams and not be pressured into acting impulsively.

The public can call the anti-scam helpline on 1800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg to find out more about scams.