SINGAPORE - About 1,000 protected SMS sender IDs have been registered by 25 organisations, including banks and government agencies, in a new anti-spoofing registry that was set up to protect sender IDs and block spoofed messages upfront.
Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Janil Puthucheary told Parliament on Monday (April 4) that the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is studying whether to make it mandatory for banks and government agencies to register their sender IDs on the Singapore SMS Sender ID registry (SSIR), which commenced operations on March 4.
He was responding to Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang).
A sender ID is the name or number that identifies the sender of an SMS message. Spoofed sender IDs have been used in scams to trick victims into clicking on links in messages sent by criminals masquerading as institutions such as OCBC Bank.
Sender IDs have been in the spotlight recently after 790 OCBC customers lost a total of $13.7 million to scammers in a spate of SMS phishing scams, mostly during the festive period late last year.
The SSIR, which was set up by IMDA and its subsidiary, the Singapore Network Information Centre, replaced an earlier pilot programme which commenced in August 2021.
Dr Janil said the pilot scheme, started by IMDA and the Monetary Authority of Singapore in collaboration with the UK Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF) as a commercial service provider, provided useful insights which helped IMDA set up the SSIR quickly.
"Under the previous MEF model, spoofed SMSes that use a registered sender ID will still be received by consumers until the sender ID owner confirms that the spoofed SMSes are not legitimate and should be blocked," Dr Janil said.
"The new SSIR takes a more proactive approach. It can block spoofed SMSes upfront and provides greater control over anti-spoof measures that better protect Singaporeans."
The SSIR will also offer a more affordable pricing model to enable more widespread participation, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises that are interested to sign up for the service, Dr Janil said.
He added that organisations pay a one-time set-up fee of $500 and a further $1,000 for every 10 sender IDs they wish to protect.
"Organisations such as the Association of Banks in Singapore, mobile network operators and SMS service providers are in full support of the SSIR, which continues to onboard new organisations interested in protecting their SMS sender IDs," Dr Janil said.
