Singapore police revealed a Zoom meeting video created using "deepfake" technology after a scam gang used it to impersonate the Prime Minister of Singapore to trick victims into transferring money, resulting in losses of about 120 million baht.
The Singapore Police Force alerted the public to be cautious of a new type of threat from scammers using AI technology to create fake online meetings, claiming involvement with financial aid related to the situation in the "Strait of Hormuz."
The scam begins with victims receiving messages via WhatsApp from perpetrators posing as cabinet secretaries, inviting them to attend a meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
Victims are then invited to join a Zoom meeting created with Deepfake AI technology, making it appear as though Singaporean and foreign government officials are genuinely participating.
The clip revealed by the police shows a fake meeting about the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, featuring images of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister Indranee Rajah, and representatives from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Additionally, the video falsely includes foreign officials such as the Canadian Foreign Minister, senior diplomatic advisors to the President of the United Arab Emirates, and private sector representatives from BlackRock and the Dubai International Financial Centre to boost the meeting's credibility.
Police said victims are introduced as private sector representatives attending the meeting before impersonators playing government officials summarize the situation, ending with a deepfake clip of the Prime Minister thanking the victims for their participation.
Afterwards, another scammer posing as a lawyer contacts the victims to persuade them to transfer money for participating in the program or to provide financial assistance.
Authorities revealed that scammers often target businesspeople or individuals who have previously interacted with government agencies, making it easier for victims to believe the deception.
Singapore police also pointed out signs indicating the clip was AI-generated, such as mismatched lip movements and speech, showing that fake audio was dubbed over a pre-recorded video.
Furthermore, all voices in the meeting came from a single user account instead of from individual participants, which is unusual for a typical Zoom meeting.
Another suspicious detail was the distorted video background and partially obscured Zoom logo that did not align with the foreground image, evidence of AI manipulation of the video.
Singapore police warned the public to be extra cautious, especially with online contacts or video calls, as current deepfake technology is highly realistic and difficult to distinguish from genuine footage.
The police emphasized that Singapore government officials will never request money transfers, bank login details, installation of unofficial applications, or transfers of calls to other police or government officers via email, phone, or video calls.
If the public encounters scams, fake news, or suspicious advertisements on social media, they can report to platform administrators or the police immediately, and verify information through Singapore's ScamShield hotline at 1799.
, Source:channelnewsasia
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