A total of about $8.5 million were lost to phishing scams involving OCBC banks by about 469 customers as of 29 December, according to the bank’s press release.
Alarmingly, about $2.7 million were lost in just 3 days, from the Christmas weekend of 24 to 26 December by about 186 customers.
Another 26 customers lost about $140,000 between 8 to 17 December.
OCBC bank sent a few media advisories to warn users about the surge in these scams, with the first advisory released on 23 December.
The second advisory was released on 30 December to warn customers of potential attacks over the New Year, with their statement stating:
“Once the funds have left the customer’s account, the possibility of recovery is very low. As such, customers remain the first line of defence against such scams.”