{"id":1368,"date":"2022-01-20T15:53:35","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T12:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/airome.tech\/?p=1368"},"modified":"2023-05-17T13:55:23","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T10:55:23","slug":"ocbc-sms-phishing-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/airome.tech\/id\/ocbc-sms-phishing-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"OCBC customers affected by the recent SMS phishing scam"},"content":{"rendered":"

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SINGAPORE: All OCBC customers affected by the recent SMS phishing scam will receive “full goodwill payouts” covering the amount they lost, the bank said on Wednesday (Jan 19).<\/p>\n

More than 100 victims have received the money, it said in a statement, adding that arrangements for the payouts will be made with all affected customers by next week.<\/p>\n

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Our comments<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dr. Pavel Melnichenko<\/p>\n

Chief Technology Officer<\/p>\n

It was a very big attack on bank’s clients via SMS channel. The problem here is in SMS channel itself \u2014 it is vulnurable to many risks of security. Definietly, recommendation to the clients to avoid any SMS-link is good but obviously, not enough.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of other ways to interact with your clients without SMS while strong authentication will protect from unauthorized account access or transactions.<\/p>\n

Any attempt to make any operation using user’s credentials will generate a confirmation request on a user’s device, so such attempts will become obvious. Meanwhile, no-OTP principles of authentication process allow to perform visibility and strong integrity control checks \u2014 thus, “what you see is what you sign”<\/p>\n

Moreover, if any malware is deployed on a smartphone of the user, this fact will be detected and provided to the anti-fraud system installed in a bank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“We seek the understanding and patience of our customers as thorough validation of each case requires time to ensure accuracy. This process is necessary so that every case is fairly and properly treated,” said OCBC’s group CEO Helen Wong.<\/p>\n

“We apologise for taking more time than expected to resolve the issues with our customers during this time of distress and anxiety.”<\/p>\n

Ms Wong said\u00a0the bank has also proactively reached out to customers who might not be aware that their banking activities were susceptible to the phishing scam.<\/p>\n

“This has helped to prevent another 200 and more customers from falling prey to the scam,” she added.<\/p>\n

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