Singapore government agencies will use a single sender ID from July 1, 2024, to thwart impersonation scams.
The government says that Singaporeans can more easily discern authentic government messages from fraudulent messages by standardising to a single gov.sg SMS Sender ID for all agencies. This change follows numerous scams, including recent incidents involving scammers posing as officials, resulting in significant financial losses. The Singapore government sends over 100 million text messages every year.
“The implementation of a verified government SMS sender system represents a significant advancement in protecting citizens,” said Clement Lee, APAC Security Architect at Check Point Software Technologies. “However, while this system is a crucial step forward, public vigilance remains essential. Cybercriminals are continually evolving their tactics, and one of their strategies includes using “look-alike” names that closely resemble legitimate government senders.”
The government has partnered with all telecom operators like Singtel, StarHub, and M1, as well as SMS aggregators, to consistently block SMSes with fake Sender IDs resembling gov.sg.
Limited exceptions for the use of gov.sg SMS Sender ID will be made for National Service matters and emergency services, acknowledging the unique nature of these communications.
