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

Check out these security tips to protect yourself online.

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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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.