SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has directed Apple and Google to take measures to prevent government impersonation scams on iMessage and Google Messages.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a press release on Tuesday (Nov 25) that this is to prevent scammers from spoofing, or impersonating, the “gov.sg” SMS sender ID and government agency names.
Apple and Google will be required to prevent accounts and group chats from displaying names that spoof “gov.sg” or government agencies or filter messages from accounts and group chats using such names.
They must also ensure the profile names of unknown senders are either not shown or appear less prominently than their phone numbers, to help users better identify and be wary of unknown senders.
SPF issued the implementation directives under the Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA) to both companies on Nov 24, requiring them to comply by Sunday, Nov 30. Apple and Google have indicated that they will comply.
The ministry also urged users to update their iMessage and Google Messages apps to have the latest anti-spoofing safeguards in place.
According to MHA, “The Police have already seen scams involving the impersonation of other SSIR-registered SMS sender IDs on iMessage and Google Messages, including over 120 cases involving the impersonation of SingPost.”
A Google spokesperson told CNA that the company is working with the government to prevent spoofing on Google Messages.
Existing protections on Google Messages include proactive spam filters and AI-powered scam detection.
To help the public distinguish legitimate messages, government agencies have been using the “gov.sg” SMS sender ID to send SMSes since July 2024, although these currently do not apply to messages sent via iMessage and Google Messages.
The OCHA, passed on Jul 5, 2023, allows the relevant authority to issue directives to online service providers to put in place any system, process or measure if it is satisfied that this is necessary or expedient to address a relevant offence.
Online service providers that fail to comply with such directives without a reasonable excuse can face a fine of up to S$1 million, and for continuing offences, an additional fine of up to S$100,000 for each day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction.
Last month, the government required Meta to implement facial recognition and give priority to reviewing reports from Singapore users to curb Facebook impersonation scams. /TISG
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