S'pore orders Google & Apple to prevent messages involving impersonation of govt agencies

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) ordered Apple and Google to implement measures preventing the spoofing of Singapore government agencies via iMessage and Google Messages by Nov. 30, 2025.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a press release on Nov. 24, Apple and Google must prevent accounts and group chats from displaying names which spoof  "gov.sg" or Singapore government agencies, or filter messages from such accounts and group chats.

Apple and Google must also ensure that the profile names of unknown senders are not displayed or are displayed less prominently than their phone numbers. This would help users better identify and be wary of unknown senders, MHA added.

What's the rationale for the order?

Since July 2024, government agencies have been using the "gov.sg" SMS sender ID to help the public identify legitimate government SMSes more easily.

However, this is not the case for messages sent by agencies via iMessage and Google Messages.

Members of the public may therefore assume that the messages from accounts which claim to be "gov.sg" are legitimate as they are not easily distinguishable from SMSes, MHA pointed out.

The police have also seen scams involving the impersonation of other registered SMS IDs on iMessage and Google Messages, including over 120 cases involving the impersonation of SingPost.

"There is therefore a need to put in place measures to deter the abuse of iMessage and Google Messages by scammers," MHA said.

The ministry further noted that both Apple and Google have indicated they will comply with the order, which was issued as Implementation Directives under the Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA).

Google: No known cases of government impersonation through their messaging service

In response to media queries, a spokesperson for Google said that there were no known cases of government impersonation reported on the Rich Communication Services (RCS) messages on Android phones thus far.

RCS messages are a type of text message that allows users to share high-resolution photos, among other functions.

The spokesperson added that Google also shares Singapore's goal of keeping Singaporeans safe online.

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