Admin error resulted in scam-related ‘gov.sg’ SMSes being sent to wrong recipients: Police

SINGAPORE - A new initiative to use only the gov.sg “sender ID” for SMSes from government agencies from July 1 ran into hiccups on the first day after a message from the police got some recipients’ names wrong.

On July 1, an SMS from the police under the “gov.sg” banner was sent out with a warning about the re-emergence of a fake bulk order scam, in which about 60 victims have lost at least $831,000 since April 12.

However, the messages were sent with the wrong recipient names because of an “administrative error”, said the police in response to queries.

Despite the wrong names, the anti-scam message sent out was authentic and not fake, the police added. Also, no personal data was compromised.

The police said follow-up messages were sent to those who were originally meant to receive the message, in a bid to clarify the situation. The police did not provide details on how many people were affected by the administrative error.

The SMS sent by the police through the “gov.sg” sender ID got some recipients’ names wrong. PHOTO: ST READER

The move to use a single sender ID for SMSes from government agencies aims to protect people from government official impersonation scams.

In 2023, there were 893 reported cases of such scams, in which victims lost about $92.5 million.

Besides the gov.sg sender ID, every message sent by government agencies will begin with the full name of the agency that sent it. The message will end with a note indicating that it is an automated message sent by the Singapore Government, and that recipients should not reply.

All SMSes from government agencies will also be grouped together, rather than appear as individual SMS messages in the phone inbox.

There are, however, several exceptions.

For instance, text messages from the Defence and Home Affairs ministries about national service matters and emergency services will have different sender IDs.

• Additional reporting by Elaine Lee