A business professional in Singapore lost at least S$4.9 million, roughly $3.8 million, after scammers used AI-generated deepfake video to impersonate Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and several other senior government officials on a fake Zoom call.
How the scam unfolded
The operation started with a WhatsApp message. The sender used a profile photo of Cabinet Secretary Wong Hong Kuan, establishing a veneer of government legitimacy from the first point of contact.
From there, the victim received a fake email, sent via Proton, claiming to request urgent funding assistance tied to a purported critical situation in the Strait of Hormuz. The email came with a forged government letter of guarantee, designed to make the ask look official.
Before the video call, the victim was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement. That’s a clever psychological move: it framed the entire interaction as classified, discouraging the victim from seeking outside advice or verification.
