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Maximum CPF daily withdrawal limit to be lowered from $200k to $50k as anti-scam measure

CPFB advised members who intend to make large withdrawals to plan in advance, and those who intend to withdraw large amounts to do so online over multiple days. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO FILE

Crime Correspondent

Updated

Published

Aug 22, 2024, 03:00 PM

SINGAPORE - From Sept 25, the maximum amount of CPF money that can be withdrawn per day will be lowered to protect people from scams.

The Central Provident Fund Board (CPFB) on Aug 22 said it will reduce the daily withdrawal limit from $200,000 to $50,000, as an anti-scam measure.

The Board had set a default daily withdrawal limit of $2,000 in November 2023, with CPF members needing to access the CPF website to raise the limit to $200,000.

This applied to online CPF withdrawals by CPF members aged 55 and above.

Currently, CPF members can adjust the limit to any amount from $0 to $200,000, subject to enhanced authentication measures and a 12-hour cooling period so they can react in the event of unauthorised adjustments.

They can also disable online withdrawals by activating the CPF Withdrawal Lock, which instantly sets the limit to $0.

CPFB advised members who intend to make large withdrawals to plan in advance, and those who intend to withdraw more than $50,000 to plan to make the withdrawals online over multiple days.

For example, if one has a $180,000 withdrawable balance and intends to withdraw all of it, he can do so by withdrawing $50,000 daily for three consecutive days and $30,000 on the fourth day.

This would prevent that person from losing $180,000 in one day, if he were to get scammed.

Scam numbers have hit new record highs in the first half of 2024, with over 26,500 reported cases and at least $385.6 million lost.

In response to queries, CPFB said less than 0.1 per cent of these cases involved CPF withdrawals which amounted to about 0.7 per cent of the total amount lost.

CPFB did not provide the exact sum, which based on the figures provided, would amount to at least $2.5 million lost to scams.

A spokesman for CPFB said: “These were attributed mainly to government officials impersonation scams and investment scams.

“For all of the cases, victims authorised the withdrawal from their CPF accounts, which were then paid into their bank accounts, and subsequently transferred out.”

CPFB said most of the victims had raised their daily withdrawal limit to above the default of $2,000 before making the withdrawals.

It said: “While the withdrawals were all authorised by the victims, the impact on the victims can be significant, particularly if they had increased their daily withdrawal limit to make larger online withdrawals.

“Therefore, lowering the maximum daily withdrawal limit provides a greater deterrence to scammers and can help to limit the potential losses in a scam.”

It added that a majority of people have maintained a daily withdrawal limit of $50,000 or less, with only a very small group setting it above $50,000.

CPFB said this group will be notified in advance about the lowering of the limit.

CPFB added that those who want to receive their CPF withdrawals via PayNow must undertake a one-time update of their PayNow NRIC-linked bank account via the CPF website, under account settings.

This update will be subject to a 12-hour cooling period and enhanced authentication.

This one-time update is a necessary anti-scam measure even for members who had previously withdrawn via PayNow, said CPFB.

It will continue to work with banks and other government agencies to monitor scam trends and review safeguards to strike a good balance between convenience and security.

It added: “If members suspect they have fallen prey to a scam involving their CPF savings, they should get their bank to freeze their bank accounts, reset their Singpass password and activate the CPF Withdrawal Lock to disable online CPF withdrawals immediately.

“They should also make a police report without delay, and inform CPF Board.”