Singapore government has new digital transformation initiative to combat text message spoofing

From 1 July, almost all SMS messages sent by government agencies in Singapore will have a unique sender ID.

A system is in place to detect scammers trying to spoof the gov.sg sender ID. (Source: Straits Times)ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Such SMS messages will display “gov.sg” as the sender ID instead of individual government agencies, such as “MOH” for the Ministry of Health or “Iras” for the Inland Revenue Authority. In addition to the “gov.sg” ID, every text message will begin with the full name of the sending agency and end with a note stating that it is an automated message from the Singapore government, so that the recipient knows not to reply to the message.

Over a two-week period starting from 18 June, government agencies will gradually start sending messages using the “gov.sg” ID. From 1 July, all messages will be uniformly displayed with the new ID.

However, there are exceptions, whereby text messages from the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Home Affairs on national service and emergency services issues will have different sender IDs. The “gov.sg” sender ID currently applies to messages sent via SMS, but not to other messaging platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram.

The new initiative is being developed by Open Government Products (OGP), an independent division of the Government Technology Agency that builds technology for the public good. The effort aims to protect citizens from official impersonation scams and build public trust in government communications. “The government is looking to increase assurance across other channels of communication, including phone calls, emails, WhatsApp and Telegram,” said Hygin Fernandez, assistant director of policy at OGP.

In recent years, several initiatives have been introduced to prevent SMS scams. By 2022, all banks in Singapore had removed clickable links in emails and SMS sent to retail customers.

In 2023, the Infocomm Media Development Authority required all organisations sending SMS with alphanumeric IDs to register with the Singapore SMS Sender ID Registry. As of April 2024, more than 4,000 businesses – including financial institutions such as DBS Bank and e-commerce companies such as Lazada – had registered, according to the authority.

Those who do not register will see their text messages labeled “may be a scam.” Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo said that after the launch of Singapore’s SMS Sender ID Registry, scammers have turned to using local SIM cards to reach potential victims through fraudulent calls and SMS. In 2023, more than 23,000 local mobile lines were linked to scams and other cybercrimes.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/chinh-phu-singapore-co-sang-kien-chuyen-doi-so-moi-chong-gia-mao-tin-nhan-275203.html