CPF to standardise SMS sender ID to 'CPF Board' from Aug 1, amid spike in phishing scams

This article is more than 12 months old

Jul 18, 2022 11:01 am

The Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board will be standardising its sender ID for SMSes from Aug 1, amid a spike in the number of phishing scams.

It said on Monday (July 18) that it will send SMSes using only the sender ID "CPF Board" on matters pertaining to CPF, Workfare and Silver Support.

It added that it will stop using the sender IDs "SG-Workfare" and "SG-SSS".

To prevent scammers from impersonating the board by sending SMSes using the "CPF Board" sender ID, it has also registered this sender ID with the Singapore SMS Sender ID Registry (SSIR), set up by the Infocomm Media Development Authority.

Registering with SSIR identifies and blocks spoofed messages upfront, said the CPF, and only legitimate SMSes will be delivered using the new sender ID.

"Members can be assured that all SMSes from sender ID "CPF Board" are legitimate messages from us," said the CPF Board.

This is a slight dip from the 4.08 per cent for the period from Jan 1 to March 31.

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" CPF members who have registered their mobile numbers with us will receive an SMS from Wednesday (July 20) on this change. We encourage members to retain this SMS on their mobile phones so that (they) can be assured that any future SMSes received on this same sender ID would be legitimate," it added.

Any SMSes purporting to be sent by CPF Board on any other sender ID should be ignored and deleted.

In April, the board said an SMS sent to CPF members informing them that their ElderShield insurance policies have been terminated is legitimate, after netizens questioned its legitimacy on social media.

The SMS had a clickable link directing people to a website about CareShield Life, which replaces ElderShield, with an instruction to log in with their Singpass for more details.

"The message is meant to notify CPF members that they are enrolled in CareShield Life, and that their ElderShield policies are being terminated," said the board then in response to queries.