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1. jeroen+n6[view] [source] 2025-06-05 17:11:16
>>fsflov+(OP)
What a weird thing to write a blog post about now. Did someone forget to hit publish on this back when it was written? The programme in question, announced a year and four months ago: https://security.googleblog.com/2024/02/piloting-new-ways-to...

AFAIK this only applies within Singapore (not sure if this applies to visiting devices) for apps requesting certain permissions (RECEIVE_SMS, READ_SMS, BIND_NOTIFICATIONS, and accessibility) downloaded outside of app stores (F-Droid is fine) and opened directly on the device (adb install is fine).

You can probably bypass the restriction by just disabling Play Protect if you don't want Google to tell you what you can and cannot install, but I'm not in Singapore so I can't confirm if that will work or not. That said, Google has made it impossible to disable Play Protect while on a call, that's probably a smart move.

Based on this article from the Singapore police, the approach doesn't seem to have helped much: https://www.police.gov.sg/media-room/news/20250417_police_ad...

> In some cases, before downloading the malicious APK file, victims would also be guided to disable Google Play Protect that helps to prevent harmful downloads. Once Google Play Protect is disabled, victims would not receive alerts that there is malware introduced into their mobile phones. Victims may also be asked to download Virtual Private Network (VPN) applications from Google Play Store which would facilitate scammers’ connection to their Android device. Scammers would then be able to bypass the banking anti-malware measures and remotely access the victims’ banking accounts with the phished ibanking login credentials.

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2. skybri+We[view] [source] 2025-06-05 18:06:38
>>jeroen+n6
Also, people in Singapore seem to be particularly vulnerable to scams:

> Pang is just one of tens of thousands of Singaporeans to fall foul of scams last year, who lost a total of S$1.1bn, according to police, a 70 per cent increase on the previous year. The true figure could be even higher, according to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, which estimates that more than two-thirds of Singaporean victims did not report their experience.

> This is a small part of a global criminal enterprise worth an estimated $1tn, but Singaporeans, affluent, digitally advanced and compliant, are particularly vulnerable to these scams. As one person involved in the recovery of assets put it: “They are rich and naive”.

https://archive.is/fCmW1

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