The Singapore government has directed tech giants Apple and Google to tighten their defenses against impersonation scams. As reported by The Straits Times, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued orders requiring both companies to prohibit accounts on their messaging platforms from using names that spoof legitimate government agencies. With the deadline set for November 30, this directive aims to close loopholes that scammers have recently exploited to mislead the public.
The specific requirements laid out by the MHA focus on preventing the misuse of the “gov.sg” sender ID and other local agency names on iMessage and Google Messages. By the end of the month, Apple and Google must either block accounts that attempt to use these official identifiers or filter out their messages entirely. Additionally, to help users exercise caution, the platforms must ensure that profile names of unknown senders are either hidden or displayed less prominently than their phone numbers.
This crackdown comes in response to a worrying surge in government official impersonation scams, which saw victims in Singapore lose $126.5 million in the first half of 2025 alone. While local authorities had already implemented the “gov.sg” sender ID for standard SMS in July 2024, these protections did not extend to data-based messaging services such as iMessage and RCS. Scammers quickly pivoted to these platforms, using the familiar “gov.sg” label to trick users who couldn’t easily distinguish fake accounts from authentic government alerts.
Both Apple and Google have indicated they will comply with the implementation directives, which were issued under the Online Criminal Harms Act.
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