YouTrip assists the Singapore Police Force to Uncover Credit Card Fraud

SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - February 13, 2019 - Multi-currency mobile wallet, YouTrip, has taken a stand against financial fraud by assisting the Singapore Police Force in uncovering a case of syndicated credit card fraud.

Over 85 fraudulent credit card transactions were flagged by YouTrip's Fraud Monitoring System. The Singapore Police Force has arrested and charged 4 individuals with syndicated credit card fraud with another 15 individuals currently under investigation for related offences.

Investigating & tracing transaction patterns using Data Analytics

Throughout late December and January, YouTrip's Fraud Monitoring System, which traces and detects early signals of suspicious transactions, flagged two key signals:

• Signal 1: High top-up amount followed by immediate purchases or cash withdrawals to deplete the account balance
• Signal 2: High frequency of failed top-ups with incorrect credit/debit card credentials

The combination of these two key signals and various data analytics techniques led to the identification of a specific group of users who exhibited both of such behaviours.

A special task force made up of Fraud Monitoring specialists and Engineers was immediately set up to further uncover more transactions and usage signals that have a high correlation to potentially fraudulent activities. These include concentration on common merchant names (e.g. overseas ATM locations), common transaction locations, chargebacks and reports from members of the general public.

YouTrip handed over conclusive findings to the police to expedite investigations. This information included 18 individuals suspected of fraudulently obtaining information on more than 85 bank credit or debit cards to top up YouTrip accounts. These accounts were immediately suspended.

Enhancing our security measures

While investigations were underway, YouTrip rolled out a security update last week that requires mandatory OTP verification via SMS (to be sent by your credit card issuing bank), whenever a new credit or debit card is added for the first time on the YouTrip app.

This helps to further eliminate cases of fraudulent use such as to perform top-ups on YouTrip accounts using stolen credit or debit cards, in addition to the existing fraud monitoring systems and customer due diligence processes.

Security Update: mandatory OTP verification via SMS when adding bank credit/debit card on YouTrip App

"Fraud prevention and security will continue to be YouTrip's core mission to our users. We will continue to work closely with the authorities and community to ensure a secure and seamless payment experience for all YouTrip users," said Mr Kelvin Lam, Country Manager (Singapore), You Technologies Group.

The case is currently under litigation and YouTrip is working closely with the authorities in the ongoing investigations. YouTrip will be working with the relevant institutions to ensure a proper arrangement for affected individuals in this case.

YouTrip users can rest assured to use YouTrip as per normal, as the suspicious activities have been contained to the current identified suspects. Users can reach out to YouTrip's  customer support team at customer@you.co, if they detect any suspicious activities in their accounts.

Read the full story at go.you.co/fraudmonitoring.

About YouTrip

YouTrip is a multi-currency mobile wallet with a contactless Mastercard prepaid card issued by EZ-Link in collaboration with You Technologies Group, which enables users to pay with no fees in over 150 currencies worldwide. Users can pay at more than 30 million Mastercard merchants across the world, and also monitor live foreign exchange rates and store up to 10 selected currencies (SGD, HKD, JPY, AUD, NZD, EUR, GBP, CHF, USD and SEK) in their wallet at wholesale exchange rates with no additional fees.

About You Technologies Group Ltd

You Technologies Group is a leading financial technology group that operates and develops YouTrip, a mobile multi-currency wallet issued with a contactless Mastercard. Operating in the Asia Pacific region, You Technologies Group focuses on building a revolutionary mobile-only platform for consumer banking and finance, empowering individuals across Asia with a simpler and smarter way to manage their money. You Technologies Group partnered with EZ-Link and Mastercard to launch YouTrip in Singapore in August 2018.