All govt agencies will sign up to SMS registry; review use of SMS, clickable links

THE Smart Nation and Digital Government Group (SNDGG) announced on Friday (Jan 21) that it will sign up all government agencies onto the Singapore SMS SenderID protection registry.

"This will make it more difficult for attackers to send spoofed messages disguised as government agencies, and facilitate tracing efforts by MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) to catch scammers," the group said.

Sender IDs of entities on the registry can still be spoofed.

SNDGG will also explore the use of other channels such as an inbox within the Singpass app for government agencies to send messages to the public.

The government will also review its use of SMS and clickable links in their communications.

The group noted that while smartphone usage is high, citizens who either do not own smartphones or use apps still rely on SMS messages.

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"The removal of clickable links for low-risk transactions also has implications beyond reducing accessibility and inclusion. Scammers will redirect their efforts through other means, such as emails, to trick the public into visiting spoofed websites," the group said.

Furthermore, the group said, government agencies are required to send links ending with ".gov.sg" and that it would ensure that agencies follow the rule. The public will also be alerted to verify that links from government agencies are valid before clicking on them.

Biometric or facial verification will also be used to authenticate higher risk transactions when fraudulent log-in attempts from different locations and devices are detected.

SNDGG also highlighted its efforts developing ScamShield, an app that can filter scam messages by identifying key words using artificial intelligence.

The app is available on iOS devices, and can block scam messages and phone calls from phone numbers used in other scam cases or reported by other ScamShield app users. An Android version is being developed.

READ MORE: 

• Companies on IMDA's SMS registry can still be spoofed

• MAS and ABS introduce new measures to bolster digital-banking security

• BT Explains: What you need to know about SMS phishing