All Overseas Calls To Start With “+” From 15 Apr, So You’ll Know When Overseas Scammers Are Calling

[kobayashiGT]

All Overseas Calls To Start With “+” From 15 Apr, So You’ll Know When Overseas Scammers Are Calling

source: https://mustsharenews.com/prevent-scam-calls/

All Overseas Calls Will Start With “+” From 15 Apr To Help Prevent Phone Scams & Spoof Calls

If you own a phone, chances are you’ve received a spoof scam call before.

Whether it’s a ‘package from DHL’ or someone claiming that you owe them money, you’ve definitely picked up at least one of these pesky calls.

If you’re lucky, you probably wouldn’t have fallen for them. Unfortunately, it seems like not all Singaporeans have such great discerning abilities.

According to the Singapore Police Force (SPF), the number of crimes reported saw a 6.3% increase in 2019. It would have fallen by 4.6% if scam cases were excluded.

In an effort to tackle the increasing number of scams in Singapore, the government is collaborating with local telcos to help phone users identify spoof calls more easily.

Government removes “+” prefix so Singaporeans can differentiate overseas calls from local ones

From 15 Apr, all international calls will start with a “+” prefix. On the other hand, all local calls will no longer start with Singapore’s international dialing code, “+65”.

A “+” prefix indicates an overseas call
Image by MS News

The government hopes this will reduce the number of Singaporeans who fall victim to international phone scams as they’ll be able to immediately differentiate spoof calls from legitimate ones.

Only overseas calls will start with “+” from 15 April

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is currently working with local telcos to implement this measure.

From 15 Apr, only calls from overseas will start with a “+” prefix, so all local calls will consist of just numbers.

Since our country’s dialing code is “+65”, it’s easy for international spoof callers to make their calls look like local ones. With the removal of the “+” prefix, it’ll be much clearer to tell if the calls are made locally or from overseas.

For instance, a local call will now read “67236474” while an international call would read “+67236474”.

A local call:

An international call:

IMDA hopes this will help Singaporeans distinguish international calls from local ones more easily, and thus be less susceptible to spoof calls.

In addition to this, Singtel, StarHub, M1, and TPG Telecom will all be required to block commonly-spoofed numbers like 999 and 995.

Singaporeans lost S$21 million to scams in 2019

The removal of the “+” prefix from local calls is just one of the measures being rolled out this year to prevent Singaporeans from falling for such scams, reports The Straits Times (ST).

As society grows more reliant on technology and digital transactions, spoof calls and scams are becoming more common.

In 2019, the number of victims of impersonation scams reportedly increased by 50%. They collectively lost a total of $21 million.

Scams pose a serious risk to Singaporeans’ personal privacy

ST also reported that the Government is stepping up efforts to protect Singaporeans’ personal information by reviewing and adapting the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), said Dr Janil Putucheary, Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information.

He said,

Quote

The Government will continue to develop additional measures to combat scams so that our citizens can be better protected.

Given the increased frequency of scams, it’s clear that they’re not a matter to be taken lightly.

Scams often involve victims giving out their personal information like their banking details or personal particulars. With such information, scammers can impersonate victims, drain their bank accounts, and carry out other unscrupulous acts.

We hope the new measures will prove successful and that the number of reported scams will fall this year.

If you’re not sure about the legitimacy of a caller, it’s always best to avoid giving out any sensitive personal information, lest you fall for a scam.

[Jusnel]

The SYT in the photo is cute....... 😁

[Picnic06-Biante15]

Oh no ....... 

Now my wife knows my oversea XMM calls ....

[Victor68]

👍that is great. 

[Wind30]

https://www.mci.gov.sg/pressroom/news-and-stories/pressroom/2021/7/mci-response-to-pq-on-curbing-scam-calls-made-from-65-phone-numbers
 

if they can detect such overseas calls why can’t they give us an option to just block the calls? 
 

I am pretty sure 99% of people would rather block block all overseas calls. Currently the next best thing I can do easily is block unknown callers which will block some valid local calls like from my car service Center engineer, etc.

[Wind30]

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/scam-call-overseas-plus-65-businesses-imda-2663341
 

I wonder when is gov going to fix this. Why not give people an option to block such calls automatically. The tech is there but they are just discussing whether it impacts legitimate numbers. Then just let everyone choose. I would block +65 calls in a heart beat

[Wind30]

Parliament Sitting on 9 May 2022

QUESTION FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

42. Mr Desmond Choo: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information (a) what is the number of overseas scam calls that have been reported in 2021 and 2022 respectively; and (b) whether requiring telecommunication providers to give users the option to block all overseas calls will be viable.

Answer:

1. The Infocomm Media Development Authority (“IMDA”) and the Singapore Police Force (“SPF”) are closely partnering the local telecommunication providers (“telcos”) to block suspicious calls. In 2021, the telcos blocked an average of 15 million incoming overseas calls each month, including spoofed numbers resembling those of local Government agencies and emergency services. Telcos have also added the “+” prefix for all incoming overseas calls since April 2020 to alert users to overseas calls, especially as scammers continue to spoof local calls using the “65” prefix.

2. Although there are a small number of telcos internationally that allow consumers to block overseas calls as part of their commercial service offerings, we are not aware of any regulator that requires telcos to do so. IMDA is currently in discussion with the telcos on the feasibility and implications of providing consumers with the option to block overseas calls. A decision will be taken after the review. 

[Wind30]

Sigh… still waiting. I would switch to whatever telco that gives me that option

[zipping]