Singapore orders Apple and Google to block ‘gov.sg’ spoofing on messaging platforms

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s police force has issued implementation directives to Apple and Google, requiring both companies to roll out new safeguards by Sunday (Nov 30) to curb criminals from impersonating government agencies on their messaging platforms.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the move aims to protect the public from a rising wave of impersonation scams. Since July last year, government agencies have been using the “gov.sg” sender address for SMS messages to help the public distinguish official messages from fraudulent ones. However, this safeguard does not extend to Apple’s iMessage or Google Messages.

While government agencies do not send SMS messages using the “gov.sg” identity on these two platforms, officials noted that some members of the public may still assume that any message appearing to come from “gov.sg” on iMessage or Google Messages is genuine.

Authorities have observed a recent surge in such impersonation scams. According to the statement, more than 120 cases involved scammers posing as SingPost and sending text messages through these platforms.

Given these developments, MHA said it is necessary to introduce additional protective measures to stop criminals from exploiting the two messaging services.

Under the implementation directives, Apple and Google must prevent accounts and groups from displaying “gov.sg” or the names of government agencies or filter out such information entirely. They must also ensure that messages from unknown senders display phone numbers prominently instead of account names, making it easier for users to identify suspicious messages.

Both companies have confirmed they will comply with the directives.

Authorities also urged the public to regularly update their messaging apps to ensure they are using the latest versions equipped with these new protections.