Verifying Identity of Government Officers and Accessing Contact Details Following Changes to Singapore Government Directory Listing
Ministry of Digital Development and InformationSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns how the public can verify the identities of public officers and obtain their contact details following changes to the Singapore Government Directory (SGDI), as asked by Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong. Minister for Digital Development and Information Mrs Josephine Teo explained that the SGDI was streamlined on 1 July 2026 to reduce the risk of scammers misusing officers' information for impersonation scams. She stated that the directory should not be used to verify callers, advising the public to instead reach agencies directly through official websites or their Quality Service Managers (QSM). To facilitate legitimate contact and enquiries, QSM details have been made more prominent on the SGDI. Minister for Digital Development and Information Mrs Josephine Teo added that the Government is developing further safeguards, including introducing a common Government call prefix later this year, followed by a recognisable caller name display.
Transcript
25 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information following the removal of many public officers' contact details from the Singapore Government Directory, how can the public (i) verify the identity of an officer who contacts them when authenticity is in doubt; and (ii) obtain the contact details of a specific officer for legitimate business or follow-up with the Government, where necessary.
Mrs Josephine Teo: My reply will address the Oral Parliamentary Question raised by Mr Louis Chua and the Written Parliamentary Question raised by Mr Dennis Tan in today's Order Paper, as they relate to the streamlining of contact details on the Singapore Government Directory (SGDI). [Please refer to "Verifying Identities of Public Service Officers Given Removal of Contact Information from Online Singapore Government Directory", Official Report, 7 October 2026, Vol 96, Issue 39, Oral Answers to Questions section.]
The SGDI was streamlined on 1 July 2026 to reduce the risk of scammers misusing Government officers' names and contact details to carry out impersonation scams.
SGDI serves as a public directory of Government officers and agency contact information. However, it should not be used to prove that a person is a public officer with a legitimate reason for calling or e-mailing them. Members of the public who wish to confirm that a public officer is attempting to reach them should contact the relevant Government agency directly through its official channels, such as the agency's website or its Quality Service Manager (QSM). To facilitate this, QSM contact details have been made more prominent on SGDI, providing clearer avenues for the public to reach Government agencies for enquiries and feedback.
The Government will continue to strengthen safeguards against impersonation scams while ensuring that Government agencies remain accessible to the public. We are developing measures to help the public identify legitimate phone calls from the Government. Later this year, we will introduce a common phone number prefix for calls from Government agencies, followed by a recognisable caller name displayed on recipients' phones.