New Singtel anti-scam feature cuts down on 2FA by matching phone numbers against telco data at the backend

SINGAPORE: Singtel on Wednesday (Mar 6) announced the launch of business solutions aimed at improving the authentication process for digital identities, a step often used by scammers to steal or phish for user information.

The suite of solutions known as SingVerify is meant for service providers like e-commerce platforms or banks, which often require customers to verify their identities for login or password resets and digital payments.

This verification is currently carried out using two-factor authentication (2FA) or multi-factor authentication (MFA) processes. 

With SingVerify, authentication is done at the service provider’s backend, which reduces the opportunities for scammers to take over the 2FA or MFA process.

The first of these solutions that Singtel is rolling out is called Number Verify. Singtel described it as “an application that validates customers’ identities by matching their phone numbers with their registered account details on the service provider’s platform”. 

The identities of consumers are verified “instantly and directly” between the telco and service providers, said Singtel and customers will no longer need to enter a six-digit code which is often required in other authentication methods. 

Additional application programming interfaces (APIs) such as device location will be added to SingVerify in the future to “augment service providers’ authentication and fraud detection toolkits”, said Singtel.

APIs are protocols that allow software applications to communicate with each other to exchange data, features and functions.

“SingVerify will pave the way for the use of telco networks to secure digital identities as a direct authentication solution,” the telco said.

SINGTEL-M1 TIE-UP

Separately, Singtel and M1 also announced on Wednesday the signing of a memorandum of understanding to enable network-based authentication for their respective mobile subscribers through telco APIs.

These APIs are “interoperable and based on a common framework of industry standards and protocols set by the GSMA”, a global organisation which aims to unify the mobile ecosystem.

“As one of the first in the world to collaborate at a national level, the two telcos will work together to federate a suite of APIs that will enable enterprises to access real-time telco network data for authentication and fraud detection,” Singtel and M1 said in a joint news release.

In 2023, the total number of scam and cybercrime cases in Singapore rose by 49.6 per cent to 50,376, compared with the 33,669 cases in 2022.

Phishing scams were one of the top five scams that people fell for, making up about 12.8 per cent of all scam cases, said the police.

A total of S$651.8 million was lost to scam cases in 2023, a drop from S$660.7 million in 2022.