Singapore orders Google and Apple to prevent Government-Agency spoofing on iMessage and Google Messages
The government of Singapore Police Force (SPF) has formally instructed Google and Apple to implement safeguards preventing fraudsters from spoofing government-agency identities on their messaging platforms. The order comes after a surge in scams where messages appearing to come from official organisations — such as the national postal service — were sent through encrypted messaging apps.
Under the directive, both companies must stop accounts and group chats from displaying sender names like “gov.sg” or other government agency IDs, or filter out messages that attempt to impersonate official entities.
Why Messaging Apps Became the New Scam Battleground
According to the authorities, the limited protections applied to SMS messages — like the “gov.sg” sender-ID verification used since mid-2024 — do not carry over to services such as Apple’s iMessage and Google Messages. On these platforms, spoofed messages can look nearly identical to legitimate SMS or chat messages, making it easy for recipients to be deceived.
The lack of a clear distinction has enabled scammers to exploit trusted branding and trick users into divulging personal data or making payments. Similarly in Malaysia, we also have SMS spam problems from scammers through our phones, although it has decreased significantly ever since MCMC enforced a ban on that via SMS.
Required Safeguards and Compliance Timeline
Under the new order, Google and Apple are required to block or filter any message threads (individual or group) that employ spoofed government agency names. Additionally, the directive demands that profile names of unknown senders must either be hidden or shown far less prominently than the sender’s phone number, giving users clearer signals when a message comes from an unverified source. The deadline set for compliance is 30 November 2025. Both companies have publicly indicated they will comply with the directive.
Larger Crackdown on Government-Impersonation Scams
The directive is part of a broader campaign by Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to clamp down on a surge of impersonation scams across digital platforms. This year alone, reported cases have nearly tripled. One major target has been impersonation of postal services such as SingPost, with over 120 confirmed incidents recorded by police involving fake “official” messages sent to unsuspecting victims.
Meanwhile in Malaysia, we haven’t seen much progress from Meta and X either to do something about cyberbullying. Even Google has yet to obtain a social media license. Stay tuned for more trending tech news at TechNave.com.
