The post Singapore directs Apple, Google to prevent government spoofing on messaging platforms appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs announced on Tuesday that police have directed Apple and Google to block scammers from impersonating government agencies on their messaging platforms.

The directive, issued under the Online Criminal Harms Act, follows a rise in fraud cases on Apple’s iMessage and Google Messages where scammers posed as official entities, including SingPost, the national postal service.

Reuters:
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While government agencies have registered with a local SMS registry so only they can send messages with the “gov.sg” name, this does not currently apply to the iMessage and Google Messages platforms.

“Members of the public may assume that messages they receive from accounts claiming to be from ‘gov.sg’ on iMessage or Google Messages are legitimate because messages sent through iMessage and Google Messages appear alongside and are not easily distinguishable from SMSes,” the police said.

Under the order, Google and Apple will need to prevent accounts and group chats from displaying names which spoof “gov.sg” and other Singapore government agencies, or filter such messages out.

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MacDailyNews Note: The Ministry of Home Affairs stated that both Apple and Google have pledged full compliance with the order and urged the public to update their messaging apps immediately to activate the latest anti-spoofing protections.

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The post Singapore directs Apple, Google to prevent government spoofing on messaging platforms appeared first on MacDailyNews.

The post Singapore directs Apple, Google to prevent government spoofing on messaging platforms appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs announced on Tuesday that police have directed Apple and Google to block scammers from impersonating government agencies on their messaging platforms.

The directive, issued under the Online Criminal Harms Act, follows a rise in fraud cases on Apple’s iMessage and Google Messages where scammers posed as official entities, including SingPost, the national postal service.

Reuters:
‎

While government agencies have registered with a local SMS registry so only they can send messages with the “gov.sg” name, this does not currently apply to the iMessage and Google Messages platforms.

“Members of the public may assume that messages they receive from accounts claiming to be from ‘gov.sg’ on iMessage or Google Messages are legitimate because messages sent through iMessage and Google Messages appear alongside and are not easily distinguishable from SMSes,” the police said.

Under the order, Google and Apple will need to prevent accounts and group chats from displaying names which spoof “gov.sg” and other Singapore government agencies, or filter such messages out.

‎
MacDailyNews Note: The Ministry of Home Affairs stated that both Apple and Google have pledged full compliance with the order and urged the public to update their messaging apps immediately to activate the latest anti-spoofing protections.

‎
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!

Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.

The post Singapore directs Apple, Google to prevent government spoofing on messaging platforms appeared first on MacDailyNews.

The post Thanks to Apple, Americans are now sending more than one billion RCS messages per day appeared first on MacDailyNews.

At the Android Show before Google I/O, Google provided an update on RCS (Rich Communication Services) adoption, a modern SMS alternative with features like high-resolution media, typing indicators, read receipts, and enhanced group chats. The company announced that the messaging standard now handles over a billion daily messages in America, based on a 28-day average, Google stated.

Sara Perez for TechCrunch:
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The stat is notable because Google fought for years to get Apple to adopt support for RCS on iOS, allowing for better communication between Android and Apple devices. Previously, iPhone users who received texts from friends on Android had to deal with blurry videos and images, and couldn’t as easily manage group chats when their green-bubbled friends joined. Unlike with iMessage, group chats with Android users couldn’t be renamed, nor could people be added or removed, and you couldn’t exit when you wanted. Emoji reactions also didn’t work properly, leading to annoying texts to let you know how an Android user reacted, instead of just displaying their emoji reaction directly.

That changed with the fall 2024 launch of iOS 18, when Apple finally added RCS support to its Messages app.

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MacDailyNews Take: Regardless, green bubbles are still annoying green bubbles that scream, “I’m a cheapskate” and/or “I’m a tech illiterate!”

Get a real iPhone.

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Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!

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The post Thanks to Apple, Americans are now sending more than one billion RCS messages per day appeared first on MacDailyNews.