Singapore's police have directed Apple and Google to implement measures preventing the spoofing of government agencies on their respective messaging platforms. This order comes as part of ongoing efforts to combat online criminal harms.
The directive was issued under the nation's Online Criminal Harms Act. It follows observations by police of scams appearing on Apple's iMessage and Google Messages, with fraudulent messages falsely claiming to originate from organisations such as the local postal service, SingPost.
A key issue is that while Singaporean government agencies utilise a local SMS registry to ensure only they can send messages bearing the "gov.sg" name, this system does not currently extend to iMessage and Google Messages.
The police noted that members of the public might mistakenly believe messages from accounts claiming to be "gov.sg" on these platforms are legitimate. This is because such messages appear alongside and are not easily distinguishable from standard SMSes.
Under the new order, Google and Apple are required to prevent accounts and group chats from displaying names that spoof "gov.sg" or other Singaporean government agencies. They must also filter out such deceptive messages.
The home affairs ministry stated that both Apple and Google have committed to complying with the order. Google confirmed it is collaborating with the government to implement these preventative measures, but Apple could not immediately be reached for comment.
Google added that this initiative builds upon its existing efforts to combat scams, including proactive spam filtering. The ministry also urged the public to update their mobile applications to ensure the latest safeguards are in place.
In September, the government also threatened to impose fines on Meta Platforms if it did not introduce measures, such as facial recognition, to help curb impersonation scams on Facebook. These scams included those involving key government office holders.
Singapore police have ordered Apple and Google to prevent government agency spoofing on their messaging platforms.
The directive, issued under the Online Criminal Harms Act, aims to combat scams appearing on iMessage and Google Messages.
These scams involve messages falsely claiming to be from official bodies like "gov.sg," which are indistinguishable from legitimate SMSes on these platforms.
Source: REUTERS
