SINGAPORE – Starting on Nov 2, the public will get calls from the police using just a single, dedicated number: 6000-0999. This number is reserved for the police’s use only, so no individuals or organisations here will be able to use it to make phone calls.
This move addresses the difficulty the public faces in checking whether calls from different numbers, including landlines and mobile phones, are genuinely from the police or from scammers impersonating police officers.
The police are the first government agency to roll out such a dedicated phone number as part of the Government’s latest arsenal to fight scams involving people posing as government officials.
Other government agencies are expected to follow suit, according to a Nov 1 announcement by the police, the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI), the Government Technology Agency of Singapore’s Open Government Products unit (OGP), and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).
“We want members of the public to be able to recognise calls from the police more easily,” said police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Rudy Dzulkarnaen, adding that the dedicated number gives the public a number to look out for when receiving calls.
“But even with this, we encourage everyone to remain vigilant, especially when receiving calls claiming to be from government agencies such as the police,” said Rudy, who is also deputy director of the police’s Service Delivery Department.
Scammers continue to impersonate government officials, especially police officers, to trick victims into transferring money or disclosing sensitive information.
From January to September 2026, there were at least 3,230 reported cases of scams involving the impersonation of Singapore government officials, with losses of at least $142.5 million. In the same period a year ago, there were at least 3,380 reported cases, with losses of at least $182.6 million.
The government agency most frequently impersonated is the police.
In the first nine months of 2026, there were at least 1,310 reported cases of scammers impersonating police officers, with losses of at least $53.3 million. In the same period in 2025, there were at least 1,010 reported cases, with losses totalling $61.4 million.
To fight such scams, Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming announced in February that the police were working with OGP and IMDA on a single, easily recognisable number for police calls.
Each call from the police’s new 6000-0999 number will be followed by an SMS sent from the gov.sg ID, with details on how people can contact the police if they need further assistance. The SMS will be sent even if the police call goes unanswered.
The SMS will usually include the name of the police officer who made the call. If the officer needs a member of the public to call back, his contact number will be included in the message.
The 6000-0999 number is for outgoing calls only and does not receive incoming calls. Calling the number will trigger an automated message directing callers to the police’s feedback portal: www.police.gov.sg/feedback
Members of the public who have queries about calls from the police can also leave a message through the feedback portal or call the police feedback hotline on 1800-358-0000.
Safeguards
Measures have been put in place to reduce the risk of the 6000-0999 number being spoofed or misused by scammers.
These measures by the Government build on existing telecommunications safeguards, including those that block overseas calls that spoof Singapore numbers. For example, they prevent phone calls from international numbers such as +65 6000-0999 from reaching members of the public here.
The police will use only the 6000-0999 number to make phone calls and will not use it on any other messaging applications such as WhatsApp or Telegram.
If scammers try to spoof or misuse the number on online messaging channels, measures are in place to address this.
Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Rudy Dzulkarnaen (left) and Open Government Products lead product manager Tay Paul Hong showing the new 6000-0999 number and the follow-up SMS the public will receive from the gov.sg ID.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
In August, the police issued a new messaging Code of Practice to fight scams. The code requires major online messaging and conferencing services to, for instance, have measures to make it harder for unknown contacts to engage users.
The major services covered by the code are deemed to pose the highest risk of scams to users in Singapore, and include WhatsApp and Telegram.
The services must now also implement measures to prevent the use and spoofing of the police’s 6000-0999 number and the gov.sg ID on their platforms for making calls or sending messages.
Failure by the online services to comply will be a criminal offence under the Online Criminal Harms Act and may result in fines of up to $1 million.
Online services that continue to flout the requirements may additionally be fined up to $100,000 for each day of non-compliance after conviction.
But if the public still get any calls from 6000-0999 through online messaging or conferencing services, these calls are not from the police.
The authorities advised the public to report such calls to the ScamShield helpline on 1799 and use the online services’ report function to alert them of possible scams.
Measures are also in place to prevent scammers from spoofing the gov.sg ID used to send an SMS to people after they get a call from the police’s 6000-0999 number.
There is a multi-tiered system to detect scammers who try to spoof the gov.sg sender ID. For example, messages from scammers using alternative spellings, such as g0v.5g, will be prevented from reaching the public.
Future plans
The Government plans to progressively introduce similar measures to make outgoing calls from other government agencies more easily recognisable and verifiable by the public.
“We are studying the implementation arrangements, taking into account the different operational and service delivery needs of agencies, as well as lessons from the Singapore Police Force’s implementation,” said the police, MDDI, OGP and IMDA.
Asked about concerns that there could be too many numbers for the public to remember, MDDI said that the Government’s intention is to “make it easier for the public to recognise legitimate calls from government agencies, without having to remember individual agencies’ phone numbers”.
This is expected to be done by having different agencies use phone numbers that start with a common set of numbers. So, when the public gets calls from numbers with these same starting digits, they will know the calls are from legitimate public agencies. More details will be shared later.
In future, each of these numbers will be accompanied by a recognisable caller name identifying the government agency the number is tied to. This will provide an additional indicator to help the public identify real government calls.
The police also reminded the public to remain vigilant against scam calls.
For example, people should not assume a caller is a government official just because the caller knows personal details like their name and NRIC number. They should verify the caller’s identity directly with the government agency the caller claims to be from, using the agency’s official channels.
If in doubt, the public can call the 24/7 ScamShield helpline on 1799 to check if a phone number is legitimate.