SINGAPORE, May 15 — A man fell victim to a scam involving purported funding assistance linked to the Strait of Hormuz and lost at least S$4.9 million (RM15.09 million), the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said yesterday.
The case was among a series of scams involving the impersonation of senior government officials, including the Secretary to the Cabinet, SPF said in an advisory posted on its official website.
SPF warned the public to remain vigilant against such schemes.
Police said the scammers appeared to be targeting business professionals who had prior interactions with government officials. The scammers would inform victims to attend a virtual meeting with the president, ministers and other government officials.
“In one such case, the victim received a WhatsApp message with Secretary to the Cabinet Mr Wong Hong Kuan’s profile photo, informing him to attend a meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
“He also received an email from WongHongKuan.secretarycabinet@proton.me, purportedly sent by the Secretary to the Cabinet, requesting urgent funding assistance relating to the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.
“The email included what appeared to be an official government-issued letter of guarantee bearing PM Wong’s signature, stating that the funds would be reimbursed by the Singapore government within 15 business days.
“The victim was subsequently invited to a Zoom video conference that appeared to involve PM Wong, as well as other local and overseas government officials. In reality, the participants had been fabricated using deepfake AI technology,” the statement read.
Following the meeting, the victim was then contacted via WhatsApp and instructed to transfer at least S$4.9 million through a series of transactions to a corporate bank account supplied by the scammers.
The victim later became suspicious and contacted the Secretary to the Cabinet yesterday, at which point he realised he had been duped.
In relation to earlier cases using the same modus operandi, police arrested and charged three individuals on May 9 for their suspected involvement in SIM card offences.
Meanwhile, police also cautioned the public against transferring money or providing identification card details to unknown persons or individuals whose identities could not be verified, stressing that Singapore government officials would never conduct such important business through emails or phone calls.
