14-9-2024 (SINGAPORE) The Singapore Customs has issued an urgent alert regarding a sophisticated SMS scam currently circulating, which attempts to deceive members of the public into divulging sensitive personal information. This fraudulent campaign masquerades as official communications from the customs authority, prompting officials to call for increased vigilance among citizens.
The deceptive text messages, purporting to be from “SG Customs”, contain suspicious links designed to lure unsuspecting recipients into providing personal data under the guise of retrieving “detained packages”. The Singapore Customs has emphatically stated that it does not employ “SGCustoms” or any variations thereof as an institutional identifier, nor does it utilise such nomenclature on digital or social media platforms.
In a Facebook post, the Customs Department reiterated its communication policies, emphasising that it never solicits personal information via text messages for package deliveries. This clarification comes as part of a broader effort to educate the public on recognising legitimate government communications.
The timing of this scam is particularly noteworthy, as it coincides with a significant change in government messaging protocols. From 1 July 2024, all SMS communications from government agencies, with limited exceptions for national service and emergency services, will uniformly display “gov.sg” as the sender identity. This initiative, detailed at www.sms.gov.sg, aims to simplify the process of identifying authentic government messages and bolster defences against impersonation attempts.
