SINGAPORE — To protect Central Provident Fund (CPF) members from scams, the CPF Board will introduce a new default online withdrawal limit of S$2,000 a day from Nov 30 for members aged 55 and older.

This limit can be subsequently adjusted online to up to S$200,000, though increases to the limit will require additional new steps.

These include using Singpass face verification, and a 12-hour cooling period to prevent unauthorised adjustments, the CPF Board said in a press release on Monday (Nov 20).

These new features come after a spate of scams resulted in CPF members losing their money earlier this year.

In June, the authorities said that about S$8 million was lost in more than 700 malware-related scams reported in the first half of this year. At least eight of these scams involved CPF savings, with losses amounting to S$124,000.

This was after the victims were tricked into downloading malware on their phones. Their CPF savings were then withdrawn and credited to their bank accounts, before being transferred out.

"Introducing a default daily limit for online CPF withdrawals is part of CPF Board’s ongoing efforts to safeguard CPF savings against fraudulent withdrawals online," said the board.

The 12-hour cooling period, for example, allows CPF members sufficient time to take action to prevent any unauthorised adjustments or updates from taking effect, it added.

Said the CPF Board: "While these precautionary measures may cause some inconvenience for CPF members, we seek their understanding that it is better to be safe than sorry, especially in today’s environment."

The board added that it will continually review its measures "to achieve a right balance between convenience and security".

NEW FEATURES TO GUARD AGAINST SCAMS

CPF Board said members can disable online withdrawals by activating its "CPF Withdrawal Lock" feature which instantly sets their daily withdrawal limit to S$0.

"With the lock activated, CPF withdrawals can only be made in person at CPF Service Centres," said CPF Board, adding that members can make an appointment to visit any of their service centres.

To enable online withdrawals again, members must increase their daily withdrawal limit, which requires Singpass facial verification and wait out the 12-hour cooling period.

The CPF Board added that Singpass face verification and the 12-hour cooling period will be required when CPF members update their contact details from Nov 30. 

Changes to bank account details will also be subject to Singpass face verification by end-December 2023.

"New bank accounts will only be activated after the bank confirms that the account belongs to the member. This will take up to two working days," it added.

CPF members will receive a notification via SMS or email whenever they make a withdrawal, update their daily withdrawal limit or update their contact or bank account details.

They will also be required to update their contact details online before they can make adjustments to their daily withdrawal limit or update their bank account details.

Should CPF members suspect they have fallen for a scam, CPF Board said they should:

• Contact the CPF Board
• Get their bank to immediately freeze their bank accounts
• Reset their Singpass password
• Set their CPF daily withdrawal limit to S$0
• Make a police report