Protecting Yourself Online

Protecting Yourself Online

You play an important role in securing your banking transactions. #BSHARP.

Protecting Yourself Online

You play an important role in securing your banking transactions. #BSHARP.

At a Glance

Banking online can be safe as long as you stay vigilant and proactively safeguard your information.

#BSHARP Security Tips

Check out these security tips to protect yourself online.

Be Web Wise - Think before you Act

Be Web Wise - Think before you Act

  • Be careful of links and attachments sent through emails or SMS or posted online on social media sites. Such links and attachments may lead to phishing pages or install malware onto your device without your permission.
  • Always go to our website by typing https://www.dbs.com.sg/sme/day-to-day/ways-to-bank/online_banking_ideal.page to ensure you’re reaching DBS's website.
    TIP: If you wish to visit a webpage, it is safer to type the URL on the address bar of your browser than to click on it from an email or another site.
  • Stay current with latest news, check our Security Alerts & News frequently to be in the know of the latest threats and scams targeting DBS and POSB customers.
  • Avoid performing online transactions on public or shared devices or devices that you suspect are compromised.
  • Never reply to unsolicited emails or SMSes. Responses to such emails or SMSes could be used by fraudsters to socially engineer information or trick users into performing unwanted actions.
  • Verify any odd or suspicious requests through official contact numbers or channels. Ensure that you're communicating directly with official DBS accounts on social media, especially when asking for assistance.
Stay Alert – Be Informed

 Stay Alert – Be Informed

  • Enable Transaction Alerts so that you can be informed instantly of transactions on your account via SMS or email. As part of the E-Payments User Protection Guidelines, it’s a good practice to set up transaction alerts.
  • Check the details on transaction alerts that are sent to you and inform the bank immediately if in doubt.
  • Always check that you intend to conduct a transaction and do not provide an OTP to authorize payment if you are not.
  • Keep your contact details updated with the Bank. Learn more.
  • When accessing IDEAL Mobile, never leave your session unattended and log out after use.
Healthy Device – Keep it updated & protected

 Healthy Device – Keep it updated & protected

  • Avoid jailbreaking or rooting your devices. Doing so makes your device more prone to security vulnerabilities like viruses and malicious software.
  • Protect your device by using anti-virus software and updating it with the latest anti-virus signature.
  • Update your web browser to the latest available patches.
  • Set your operating system, anti-virus and anti-spyware software to perform automatic updates daily.
  • Install the latest software updates on your device. This helps to ensure that software bugs and security vulnerabilities are addressed.
  • Be mindful of the applications you install on your devices. Install apps from official app stores such as Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Unofficial app stores may modify and inset malware into legitimate, non-malicious apps.
  • When installing applications, verify that the permissions granted to the application are necessary and avoid downloading unnecessary applications as these applications may contain malicious code or social engineering scams.
  • Regularly backup critical data.
Aware - Be mindful of what you share

 Aware - Be mindful of what you share

  • Be aware of what information you share and how it can be used by a receiving party.
  • Avoid sharing personal details such as your identity card information, address, phone number, DBS IDEAL account details, or other personal information unnecessarily.
  • Consider setting your social network profile to private or use custom audience settings. This way, only people you invite can see what you post.
  • Consider using a nickname instead of your real name. This can help reduce the chances of you being harassed online.
  • When using public Wi-Fi, avoid accessing websites that require you to login. Consider limiting your activities to only non-sensitive ones. Enable security settings such as 2FA whenever possible adds an additional layer of security.
  • Stop and consider before sharing any posts as information posted may cause harm to yourself or people around you.
Responsible - Be a good citizen

 Responsible - Be a good citizen

  • Review your privacy settings and practice good social media etiquette.
  • Read the transaction details in the SMS or email alerts carefully. Validate that the messages reflect your actual transaction requests. For example, check that the account number is correct.
  • Check your last login and transaction history regularly for any abnormal transaction and notify us immediately at 1800 222 2200 (Business Banking), if you notice unknown transactions appearing on your account.
  • Think before sharing and post online, what you share online can be re-shared and made public by others. You cannot take it back or delete it later.
  • Treat others the way you would like to be treated. Practise kindness in both the physical and digital world.
  • Be cautious when you come across promotional offers that sound too good to be true.
  • Apply a healthy dose of scepticism if you read any news articles that are sensational and discern if the articles come from a credible source.
Protect Your Information

 

  • Secure your device with a strong password, PIN or a relevant mechanism to prevent unauthorised use.
    TIP: A strong password is one that is difficult to guess and contains a mix of letters, numbers or symbols. You can use this on top of your device’s biometric security feature (if available).
  • Never disclose your IDEAL User ID, PIN & One-Time Password (OTP) to anyone. DBS will never request for your PIN, password or OTP.
  • Avoid providing your account details (such as passwords and PIN) to third-party financial aggregator applications as these applications may not be secure.
  • Avoid registering other people’s biometrics such as facial or fingerprint registration on your devices if you use biometrics to access DBS applications.
  • Use a different PIN or password for web-based services such as email, online shopping or subscription services.
Things to Note

Let's keep our guard up and maintain good digital habits. For more information, you may refer to our e-Payment FAQ.

Recent Scams & Frauds

Stay updated on the latest security news that might affect the way you bank online.
 

Business email compromise scam

Date: Oct 2024

Signs to look out for:

  • Scammers impersonate business partners or suppliers via a hacked email account or a spoofed email address to send false invoices with altered account numbers.
  • Scammers may use spoofed email addresses that look similar to legitimate ones with slight errors or changes to letters/symbols.
  • Email contains fake invoices asking for a change of payment modes and threats of losing the contract if instructions are not followed. These include transferring funds to a new account number urgently.
  • Scammers urge you to contact them via different communication channels.

Protect yourself and your business:

  • Treat any new or sudden changes in payment instructions or bank account details of your suppliers with extreme caution, especially when informed via email. 
  • Always verify directly with your supplier through alternate communication channels like a phone call using a verified phone numbers.
  • Verify invoices and the payment details against known records. Make payments to local companies via Unique Entity Number (UEN) instead of via mobile number or direct transfers.


Bulk orders scam from scammers posing as school staff

Date: Jul 2024

Signs to look out for:

  • Scammers reach out via unofficial communication channels (e.g., WhatsApp, SMS, Phone Call from unknown number) impersonating school staff and place large orders for school projects with promising revenues. They later change the order to include high-value or unrelated items.
  • Scammers will request businesses to purchase additional items from a fraudulent supplier with advance payments.
  • Scammers claim to transfer the funds to reimburse businesses for the purchase and provide unauthenticated screenshots of payment proof.
  • After the victim makes payment, both scammer and supplier will disappear without delivering the goods.

Protect yourself and your business:

  • Always insist on making payments to local companies via Unique Entity Number (UEN), instead of mobile or direct transfer.
  • Avoid making advance payments to new business partners or suppliers. Only initiate payments to known bank accounts.
  • Always verify the authenticity of the purchaser by checking independently with the organisation they claim to be from.