We thank Mr Tan Hee Seng for his feedback (Are IMDA, telcos doing enough to protect consumers from scam calls?, Feb 26).

Scammers often use technologies to make scam calls that spoof local numbers.

The majority of these calls originate from overseas, making it difficult to identify and block them.

Many countries are grappling with this challenge.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has been working closely with the Singapore Police Force and telecommunications operators to better protect the public from spoof calls.

Hundreds of thousands of international calls that spoof local numbers, such as 995 and 999, are already blocked by the operators every month.

More recently, the Government introduced additional measures to mitigate spoof calls.

As announced at the recent Ministry of Communications and Information's (MCI) Committee of Supply debate, from April 15, a "+" prefix will be displayed for all incoming international calls (New '+' way to help consumers spot overseas spoof calls, March 4).

This will allow consumers not expecting international calls to identify possible spoof calls, and be more vigilant when receiving them.

A new inter-ministry committee comprising MCI, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Trade and Industry has also been set up to tackle scams.

IMDA will be part of this committee, which represents a concerted inter-agency effort to better protect Singaporeans against scam calls.

Members of the public are encouraged to call the anti-scam hotline on 1800-722-6688 (1800-SCAM OUT) if they receive suspected scam calls.

Karen Low

Cluster Director, Communications and Marketing Cluster

Infocomm Media Development Authority