SINGAPORE \u2013 Tech giants Apple and Google have been directed to prohibit accounts on their messaging services from using names that spoof Singapore government agencies, in a move to protect the public from impersonation scams.<\/p>\n
By Nov 30, Apple and Google must prevent accounts and group chats on iMessage and Google Messages from using names that spoof the \u201cgov.sg\u201d sender ID or other local government agencies, or they must filter out messages from such senders, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Nov 25.<\/p>\n
In addition, the profile names of unknown senders must either not be displayed, or be shown less prominently than their phone numbers, which would help users better identify and exercise caution with unknown persons.<\/p>\n
Local authorities have been using the \u201cgov.sg\u201d sender ID since July 2024 to help the public more easily identify legitimate government messages.<\/p>\n
However, this does not apply to messages sent via iMessage and Google Messages. As a result, members of the public might be misled by messages from unknown senders using the \u201cgov.sg\u201d ID via these services, which are not easily distinguishable from regular messages, said the ministry in a statement. <\/p>\n
As the police have seen scams involving the impersonation of other registered sender IDs \u2013 including over 120 cases of scammers impersonating SingPost \u2013 measures need to be taken to deter abuse of the two messaging services, said the authorities. <\/p>\n
\u201cApple and Google have indicated that they will comply with the Implementation Directives,\u201d said the ministry, which added that this order was issued on Nov 24 under the Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA). <\/p>\n
The law came into force in February 2024, allowing the Government to issue directions and orders to restrict and limit the exposure of Singapore users to criminal activities on online platforms. <\/p>\n
In September, <\/p>\n Meta was directed to implement measures<\/p>\n <\/a> to target scam advertisements, accounts, profiles, and business pages impersonating key government office holders on its social media platform Facebook.<\/p>\n Said MHA: \u2018We urge the public to regularly update the iMessage and Google Messages apps on their mobile devices to ensure that the latest anti-spoofing safeguards are in place.\u201d<\/p>\n Victims lost $126.5 million to government official impersonation scams in the first six months of 2025, a nearly 90 per cent increase from $67.2 million in the first half of 2024, according to mid-year statistics released by the police in August. <\/p>\n Such scams have almost tripled in number, with\u00a01,762 cases reported in the first half of 2025 compared with 589 over the same period in 2024.<\/p>\n In response to queries from The Straits Times, a Google spokesperson said that no known cases of government impersonation have occurred via Rich Communication Services (RCS) messages on Android phones so far.<\/p>\n RCS, which is supported on services such as Google Messages, allows users to share high-resolution photos and have secure, end-to-end encrypted conversations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe share Singapore\u2019s goal of keeping Singaporeans safe online,\u201d said the spokesperson.<\/p>\n \u201cTo that end, we are collaborating with the government to implement pre-emptive measures to help prevent the spoofing of government agencies\u2019 names in RCS messages sent via Google Messages.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/picture><\/div>\n