https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/identity-thieves-cancel-spore-mans-credit-cards-leaving-him-and-wife-strapped-for-cash-in-japan

Mr Melvin Chan and his wife were at the Tokyo DisneySea theme park on Oct 7 when they realised that none of their cards was working.PHOTOS: MELVIN CHAN

SINGAPORE – Singaporean Melvin Chan’s recent holiday to Japan with his wife turned into a nightmare after he found their bank accounts blocked and credit cards cancelled by identity thieves who rang up the banks and pretended to be them.

Mr Chan, 35, and his wife were at the Tokyo DisneySea theme park on Oct 7 when they realised that none of their cards was working.

“DisneySea is a cashless attraction. Almost everything there requires you to pay with card – from restaurants to the express passes for the rides. I think maybe only the souvenir shops accepted cash payment,” said Mr Chan.

The couple spent three hours calling DBS Bank, UOB and OCBC Bank from the theme park – racking up $200 in roaming charges in the process – and would later find out that their cards had been cancelled by someone who called the banks.

The person, who posed as Mr Chan, asked the banks to do so on the pretext that he had lost his belongings.

“We were shocked to find that all my credit cards were cancelled and our bank accounts were blocked. The bank officers told us that we would need to be back in Singapore to reinstate them,” said Mr Chan, who has reported the matter to the police.

“My wife is Thai... so we transferred money from her bank account in Thailand to my YouTrip travel card. She has limited funds in that account and we carried on the rest of the trip with limited funds.”

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The police confirmed that the reports were made and are looking into the matter.

Mr Chan added that he did not lose any money from his accounts when this happened. But this incident surfaced as banks face increasing pressure to safeguard customer funds from scams and fraud.

Figures from the police show that scam victims in Singapore lost $385.6 million in the first six months of 2024, with a record 26,587 cases logged during that period.

UOB and OCBC told The Straits Times that safeguarding the funds in their customers’ accounts is their top priority and that card blocking and cancellation are important anti-fraud measures.

Mr Chan said the two banks cancelled his cards after receiving calls from someone who claimed to be him. The caller had apparently passed identity verification requests after a few failed attempts.