Govt agencies to use common caller ID for calls to public

Government agencies are planning to start using a common caller ID for calls made to the public, to tackle the scourge of scammers posing as government officials.

- Sarah Koh

This will be done in a similar approach to how agencies have been using the gov.sg sender ID to send text messages since July 2024, said Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam on Sept 23.

His written reply was in response to a question in Parliament from Mr Vikram Nair on whether the Government is considering additional measures to combat the rise of government official impersonation scams and phishing scams.

Government official impersonation scams and phishing are of serious concern, and account for 34 per cent of all scam losses in the first half of 2025, said Mr Shanmugam.

Government agencies started using the common gov.sg sender ID to send messages so that recipients can easily identify legitimate government messages, said Mr Shanmugam, adding that the authorities are planning a similar approach for government calls.