📞 Calls from government agencies to start with common prefix as part of anti-scam efforts: Josephine Teo   The Government is also working to tag its calls with a recognisable user name and adopt authentication protocols that reference international standards.   READ: https://asia1.news/4y7VeVj   Follow @AsiaOnecom for all the latest updates.   In a written Parliamentary reply on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, Singapore’s Minister for Digital Development and Information, Josephine Teo, announced a significant shift in government communication protocols to combat the dramatic rise in Government Official Impersonation Scams (GOIS). Responding to parliamentary questions regarding call authentication, the Minister outlined upcoming safety layers designed to protect the public.   ### 1. The Common Prefix Initiative The Government is engineering a standardized system where **all outgoing calls from government agencies will begin with a common, easily recognizable prefixed number.**    * **The Pilot Phase:** The Singapore Police Force (SPF) will pilot this initiative later this year.    * **Collaborators:** The project is a joint development between the police, Open Government Products (OGP), and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).   ### 2. Caller Tagging & International Verification Standards To ensure spoofed numbers cannot bypass this system, the Government is implementing robust underlying security protocols:    * **Name Recognition:** Government calls will be digitally tagged with a recognizable username on screen.    * **STIR/SHAKEN Adoption:** Singapore is adopting international identity authentication standards, specifically the **STIR/SHAKEN framework** (Secure Telephone Identity Revisited and Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs). This cryptographic technology allows a telecom provider to verify that an incoming call genuinely originated from the number displayed on the caller ID, preventing scammers from spoofing government prefixes.   ### The Underlying Context: Surging GOIS Losses The necessity for these hardline defenses comes after a spike in impersonation tactics, even as overall scam rates shifted down:    * While total scam and cybercrime cases in Singapore dropped from 55,810 in 2024 down to 41,974 last year, **GOIS cases more than doubled**, climbing from 1,504 to 3,363.    * Financial losses to impersonation scams surged **60.5%**, hitting **$242.9 million** last year compared to $151.3 million in 2024.    * On average, victims lost over **$72,000 per case**, with the majority of targeted individuals aged 65 and above.   ### Additional Measures This announcement follows the police department's launch of a brand-new **Cyber Command** unit on July 3, specifically designed to act as the primary operational force against online cybercrime and digital scams. Despite these incoming structural defenses, Minister Teo reminded the public to maintain a baseline of strict vigilance: government officials will never demand money transfers, request banking login credentials over a phone call, or instruct citizens to download applications via unofficial app stores.  

MOH does not track or publish data on seniors found dead alone at home: Ong Ye Kung   https://onlinecitizenasia.com/2026/07/07/moh-does-not-track-or-publish-data-on-seniors-found-dead-alone-at-home-ong-ye-kung   In a Parliamentary reply on July 7, 2026, Singapore’s Health Minister, Ong Ye Kung, stated that the Ministry of Health (MOH) does not systematically track or publish data regarding seniors who die alone at home and are only discovered after their passing.   According to the report, the key points from his response to Parliamentary Questions posed by Workers' Party MP Fadli Fawzi and Nominated MP Dr Neo Kok Beng are as follows:    * **Government Strategy:** Minister Ong emphasized that the government's priority is "upstream"—focusing on early intervention, community outreach, and providing support for vulnerable seniors before crises occur. This includes efforts by the Agency for Integrated Care’s Silver Generation Office to identify at-risk seniors and refer them to Active Ageing Centres.    * **Role of Community:** He highlighted the important role that neighbours, community groups, and grassroots organizations play in looking out for and supporting vulnerable seniors.    * **Use of Technology:** The government is expanding the use of technology to assist seniors living alone. This includes:      * **Wireless Alert Alarm System:** Being progressively extended by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to seniors in public rental blocks to allow them to call for help in emergencies.      * **Home Personal Care Service:** An enhanced service, rolled out nationwide in April 2026, which allows eligible seniors to subscribe to a 24-hour monitoring and response system that can detect falls and provide assistance.   The issue has gained increased public attention as Singapore becomes a "super-aged" society, with over 20% of its population aged 65 and above. The report noted that this is not the first time the matter has been raised in Parliament, with Minister Ong having previously clarified in 2025 that the MOH does not track such deaths.

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