The police emergency SMS sender ID will be changed from "71999" to "70999" starting Oct. 1, 2024, as part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) standardising of sender IDs used by different departments in the Home Team.

The move will help protect the public against scammers who impersonate Home Team officers.

Having the new SMS sender ID will make it easier to recognise and remember SMSes from the Home Team, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said in a press release on Sep. 27.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), for instance, uses the SMS sender ID "70995" as part of its 995 emergency call service.

In total, there are seven departments in the Home Team, including the SPF and the SCDF.

The police emergency SMS service started in 2016 as part of Singapore's SGSecure movement.

It enables individuals who are deaf, mute or have a speech impairment, to contact the police, as well as people who require police assistance in emergency situations where it is unsafe to have phone conversations.

SPF noted that since Jul. 1, Singapore government agencies have been using a single SMS sender ID - gov.sg - for one-way communication with the public.

In non-emergency situations, members of the public are advised to send information via i-Witness or use the e-services available on the SPF website or Police@SG app to lodge a police report.

Top photo via Singapore Police Force