Singapore’s four largest mobile providers are now giving subscribers the option to block all incoming calls from international numbers as part of the country’s scam reduction strategy. Customers of M1, SIMBA, Singtel and Starhub can switch the block on or off at will, free of charge, by communicating their preference via voice call, SMS or their telco’s app. The national regulator, Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), issued a press release to explain how it works.
By opting in, all incoming calls made from international numbers will be blocked. Calls made from Singapore numbers (e.g. Singapore users roaming overseas and calling home), will still be received as per normal. Subscribers can enable and disable the international number blocking option based on their needs. For example, a subscriber can opt in to enable the international number blocking as a default, but disable the service when travelling overseas and expecting calls from international numbers (e.g. from the hotel or on-ground transport).
IMDA also announced that the option to block international calls will be extended to SMS messages by the middle of 2024. Singapore’s status as a prosperous small country with a multi-ethnic population encourages high volumes of international scam traffic. To counter this, a new rule was introduced in 2020 which made it easier for consumers to distinguish between international and national calls. Singapore subsequently introduced automated blocks when a very high volume of calls originate from the same international origin, or if an inbound international call spoofs a domestic phone number. These blocks stopped approximately 33 million calls per month between January and September 2023, which is equivalent to one-quarter of all inbound international calls if no blocks had been in place. Singapore has also implemented the registration of SMS Sender IDs more aggressively than other countries. Singapore’s success in reducing scams appears to have influenced the policies of other authorities in the region, including Hong Kong’s decision to register SMS Sender IDs.
As might be expected, organized crime has responded to the incremental tightening of controls on international traffic by procuring local SIM cards and eSIMs to originate more scam calls and messages within Singapore. The government intends to respond with harsher punishments. The text of the new Law Enforcement and Other Matters Bill, published just a few days ago, states:
To prevent scams, the Bill will introduce new offences to deter the misuse of local SIM cards (i.e. SIM cards, including e-SIMs, registered with Singapore mobile service providers) for criminal activities, including scams.
Those new offenses include:
- Buying, selling or renting SIMs registered in somebody else’s name.
- Supplying, obtaining or possessing 11 or more SIMs that have not been registered in anyone’s name.
- Giving SIMs to somebody when there are reasonable grounds to believe they will be used for crime.
The penalty for these offenses will be a fine of up to SGD10,000 (USD7,500), imprisonment of up to 3 years, or both. Where SIMs have been supplied in exchange for money then the potential punishment for repeat offenders rises to SGD20,000 (USD15,000), imprisonment of up to 5 years, or both. The new laws are meant to end the practice of individual Singaporeans profiting from crime by selling SIMs they have registered and then later claiming they did not know how the SIMs were going to be used.
The bill also proposes new offenses that are specific to telcos and retailers:
- Registering a SIM using the details of a person without that person’s consent.
- Registering a SIM when it is known the registration details are false or misleading.
Companies and unincorporated associations that commit these crimes will face fines of up to SGD20,000 (USD15,000) for a first offense, or SGD40,000 (USD30,000) for repeat offenses. However, it is unclear from the text of the bill how the number of offenses will be counted in practice, so whether there might be a fine of SGD20,000 or SGD40,000 per each SIM card that was illegally supplied, or whether there can only be one fine for each act of making a supply, no matter how many SIM cards were supplied through that act.
