Deepfakes used in scam that invited victims to fabricated Zoom call involving PM Wong
Deepfakes of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and other senior government officials have been used in a recent impersonation scam, cheating one victim of at least S$4.9 million.
Clips of a fabricated Zoom call were released on Facebook on Saturday (16 May) by the Singapore Police Force (SPF), which taught users how to tell that they were fake.
Source: Singapore Police Force on Facebook
Deepfakes discuss Straits of Hormuz during ‘Zoom call’
According to the footage, the victim was led to believe they were participating in a “Zoom call” that contained deepfakes of PM Wong and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah, which included impersonations of their voices.
Source: Singapore Police Force on Facebook
One clip showed them in front of the Ministry of National Development’s (MND’s) logo.
Source: Singapore Police Force on Facebook
Other purported participants were:
- President Tharman Shanmugaratnam
- Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) representatives
- The Foreign Minister of Canada
- The Senior Diplomatic Advisor to the President of the United Arab Emirates
- Blackrock
- Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)
Source: Singapore Police Force on Facebook
The victim would be introduced as one of the private-sector participants. The deepfakes would then discuss the situation in the Straits of Hormuz.
The “Zoom call” would conclude with “PM Wong” delivering his closing remarks and acknowledging the victim’s attendance.
Victims would be contacted by ‘Secretary to the Cabinet’
SPF had warned the public about the scam in a series of news releases over the past 1.5 weeks, noting that the scammers appeared to be targeting business professionals who have had prior interactions with government officials.
The victims would be informed to attend the “Zoom call” via a WhatsApp message from a scammer impersonating Secretary to the Cabinet Wong Hong Kuan, complete with his profile photo.
Source: Singapore Police Force
They would then be asked to provide an email address to receive a “Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)” that they must endorse, as well as copies of their identification cards.
Source: Singapore Police Force
Victim asked to contribute towards Straits of Hormuz situation
In one case, the victim was not only asked to sign an NDA, but also received an email from WongHongKuan.secretarycabinet@proton.me, an email address that purported to be from the Secretary to the Cabinet.
The email requested urgent funding assistance for the Straits of Hormuz situation.
It also came with what looked like an official letter bearing PM Wong’s signature, guaranteeing that the funds would be returned by the Singapore Government within 15 business days.
After the “Zoom call”, the victim was contacted via WhatsApp and convinced to transfer at least S$4.9 million to a corporate bank account.
The victim only realised that they were scammed when they felt suspicious and contacted the real Secretary to the Cabinet on Friday (14 May).
How to tell that deepfakes are being used to scam you
In its latest release on Saturday (16 May), SPF noted several signs of deepfake technology.
For example, the lips of the “participants” did not sync with the audio, suggesting that the video was pre-recorded and inauthentic audio was layered on.
Source: Singapore Police Force on Facebook
Another indication of pre-recording is that the “participants” all used the same window, suggesting that everything was broadcast through one account only.
“This indicates that pre-recorded, inauthentic speech was layered on to videos of impersonated officials, and broadcast through one main account,” SPF said.
Source: Singapore Police Force on Facebook
Lastly, the background of some of the videos was distorted, and the Zoom logo was partially obscured and did not align with the foreground — a telltale sign of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
Source: Singapore Police Force on Facebook
Public advised to be cautious online
SPF advised members of the public to remain vigilant and exercise extra caution, especially when contacted online.
It noted that Singapore Government officials will never ask you to transfer money, disclose bank login details, or install mobile apps from unofficial app stores over email, phone or video calls.
They also will not transfer you to the police or any other government officials over the phone.
Also read: Lee Hsien Loong calls out deepfake video of him promoting an investment scam on social media
Lee Hsien Loong calls out deepfake video of him promoting an investment scam on social media
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Featured image adapted from Singapore Police Force on Facebook.
