SINGAPORE – The police and four banks here worked together to stop over 3,500 bank customers from losing more than $51.7 million through scams, in a two-month operation.

Between March 1 and April 30, the bank customers were alerted through more than 5,600 text messages by the police’s Anti-Scam Centre, DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB, after they were identified as potential scam victims.

The intervention was “crucial in disrupting scam attempts, protecting victims before they could transfer their savings to fraudsters”, the police said in a statement on May 9.

Robotic process automation technology – or the use of bots or artificial intelligence to automate repetitive tasks – was used in this operation.

This technology significantly reduced the police’s response time in identifying victims of job, government official impersonation, investment, fake friend call and e-commerce scams, the police said. More than 1,100 scam cases were disrupted, they added.

The police urged the public to protect themselves against scams by adding security features such as two-factor authentication on their electronic devices and banking apps and Singpass accounts; and to check for signs of scams and inform the authorities and others about any ongoing scams.

For more information on scams, visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call 1799.

To report scam-related information, call the police on 1800-255-0000 or submit details online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness

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