IMDA implements mandatory registration with Singapore SMS Sender ID Registry from 31 January 2023
27 February 2023
From 31 January 2023, organisations that send Short Message Service (“SMS”) using alphanumeric Sender IDs are required to register with the Singapore SMS Sender ID Registry (“SSIR”) to better protect consumers against non-registered SMS that may be scams. If not, SMS received by consumers from non-registered organisations may be labelled as “Likely-SCAM”. For an example of a “Likely-SCAM” SMS, please click here.
As a transition measure, all non-registered SMS Sender IDs from 31 January 2023 will be channelled to a Sender ID with the header “Likely-SCAM”. This functions similarly to a “spam filter and spam bin” and will be in place for around six months.
The Info-communications Media Development Authority of Singapore (“IMDA”) encourages organisations to register their Sender IDs with the SSIR as soon as possible.
In October 2022, IMDA had announced that the full SSIR regime will be effective from 31 January 2023 and that interested organisations could start the registration process from 31 October 2022 via the SSIR portal. IMDA has updated that as of January 2023, more than 1,200 organisations, using more than 2,600 SMS Sender IDs, have already registered. This includes financial institutions, e-commerce operators, logistics providers, and small and medium enterprises that send SMS to their customers.
The new mandatory SSIR regime forms part of an ongoing multi-layered approach to strengthening protection against scams. In the October 2022 announcement, IMDA also mentioned the implementation of SMS anti-scam filtering solutions for telecom operators to automatically filter potential scam messages before they reach consumers. For more, please click here to read our previous articled titled “IMDA to implement full SMS Sender ID registration from 31 January 2023 and anti-scam filtering solutions from 31 October 2022” and “IMDA proposes full SMS Sender ID registration and anti-scam filtering solutions to enhance protection against scams”.
Reference materials
In anticipation of the full SSIR regime on 31 January 2023, IMDA released a media release, factsheet and further information on its website www.imda.gov.sg as follows: