Should OCBC be made responsible?

Easier said than done.

“In the final two weeks of December 2021, at least 469 OCBC customers fell victim to phishing scams that saw a collective S$8.5 million swiped from their bank accounts.”

If you heard about the OCBC saga regarding scammers impersonating OCBC and sending phishing links to customers, you should know how complex the problem really is.

Of course it is easy to raise our fists and curse at the “big brother” here.

But really, is there a case here?

Or are we just angry pitchfork farmers blaming the skies when there’s a drought?

Some say OCBC should take full responsibility and pay back all the affected victims.

They are after all, the big bank and made loads of money.

Was it like $15m a day or something?

The total amount scammed was estimated to be around $8m.

I mean, that is the point of a centralised authority in the finance industry right?

You have lots of power and control, and the people gave that to you, but that also means you are able to step in and rectify when needed.

Sounds almost convincing no?

Some also say that it is entirely the fault of the customers who put themselves in that predicament in the first place.

They were the ones who were careless and have to accept the consequences.

They clicked the link in the SMS and gave the information willingly.

So why should OCBC be responsible to compensate them when it was the scammers who got away with their money.

I read through so many commentary and opinion pieces on the subject.

There are some really valid points raised by both sides.

My heart goes to the victims who were scammed their life savings and also to OCBC who were obviously targeted by a group of sophisticated and experienced digital hackers.

I mean, did you see the actual SMS phishing message?

It was sent under the same SenderID and even appears in the same group of messages sent by OCBC!

Honestly, if this doesn’t scare you, It will sure fool a lot of elderly and less sophisticated users out there.

Is there a way to curb this?

There are always solutions, and that is the real point here.

One of my favourite idea is a “blue tick” system for SMS, to authenticate and verify the sender.

Why don’t they have it already?!

OCBC, like any other banks out there, have to remain vigilant, stay on top of things and always be on a look out for such attacks.

This presents an opportunity to spin into a positive campaign, compensating the victims, restoring public faith, demonstrating their approach to such phishing attacks and getting a few points ahead from the rest of the pack.

Netizens are saying how this is so different from the crypto world where scams and hacks happen almost daily.

Perhaps that is exactly why the crypto world is getting better each time and its security protocols are being tested daily.

Nothing is worse than complacency and inertia.

Do you think OCBC should be held accountable for the phishing attacks?

Love to hear your comments. Connect with me.

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