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Fighting scammers in a multichannel world of online fraud
The recently launched anti-scam SMS registry blocks one channel, but there are others like WhatsApp, Telegram and e-mail. There are other options that can be explored.
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From July, SMSes with unregistered sender names will be blocked, as required by the Infocomm Media Development Authority.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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A new scheme that labels unregistered SMS sender names as “likely scam” is the latest salvo in the never-ending arms race between the Government and fraudsters. It is a necessary move, but other weapons would need to be brought to bear as we are dealing with a multichannel world of scams.
Dubbed the Singapore SMS Sender ID Registry, the scheme is aimed at countering SMS spoofing by scammers who lure their victims by using fake SMS sender names in their messages. SMS spoofing made headlines when scammers pretending to be OCBC Bank swindled a total of $13.7 million
