Singaporean police on 15/5 warned of a scam targeting businesspeople who had previously interacted with Singaporean government officials. One victim lost 4.9 million Singapore dollars (3.8 million USD) after receiving a message via WhatsApp featuring Cabinet Secretary Wong Hong Kuan.
The imposter requested the businessman to join a meeting that included Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. The victim also received an email from the fake Cabinet Secretary about urgent financial assistance for the government due to the Strait of Hormuz situation.
"This email included a forged government guarantee letter, bearing Prime Minister Wong's signature, stating that the Singaporean government would repay the funds within 15 business days," Singaporean police reported.
 |
AI-generated deepfake video featuring the Singaporean Prime Minister. *CNA*. |
Following the meeting, a scammer, posing as a lawyer, contacted the victim privately to persuade them to transfer money. The victim transferred millions of USD through a series of transactions to corporate accounts provided by the scam group. After completing the transfers, the victim felt something was amiss and immediately contacted the real Cabinet Secretary on 14/5. It was then that he discovered he had been scammed.
On 16/5, Singaporean police announced they had retrieved the Zoom video conference related to the scam. This meeting was entirely fabricated using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to create realistic-looking deepfake images and audio.
The video displayed images of Mr. Wong, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Indranee Rajah, along with representatives from the Central Bank of Singapore.
Also appearing in the video were foreign government officials, such as Canada's Foreign Minister and the Senior Diplomatic Advisor to the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as private sector representatives from financial groups like BlackRock and the Dubai International Financial Centre.
"The victim was introduced to the meeting as one of the private sector representatives," Singaporean police stated. "The online meeting then proceeded with a brief report from government officials on the Strait of Hormuz situation, concluding with a deepfake video of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong delivering closing remarks, acknowledging the victim's presence at the meeting."
 |
Fake messages from Singapore's Cabinet Secretary and Prime Minister sent to the victim. *CNA*. |
Singaporean police anticipate the potential for more similar cases and advise the public to heighten vigilance, especially when communicating on online platforms.
"AI deepfake products are increasingly sophisticated, making it very difficult to distinguish between real and fake content," Singaporean police emphasized.
Hong Hanh (According to CNA)
