SINGAPORE, Nov. 25 -- The Singapore Police Force has directed technology giants Apple and Google to implement safeguards aimed at curbing government impersonation scams on their messaging platforms.

As reported by CNA, under the Online Criminal Harms Act, the companies are required by Sunday to suppress the display of the "gov.sg" sender ID by unauthorised accounts and ensure that phone numbers take precedence over profile names for unknown contacts.

Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in a press statement, explained that these measures would help users better identify and be cautious of unknown senders.

While legitimate government agencies use the "gov.sg" sender ID for standard SMS communications to support authentication, th...