More than 70 cases have been reported by fraudsters who tampered with indecent photos and mailed letters to victims for extortion. A number of ministers and parliamentarians in Singapore have also been targeted by scammers and received ransom notes, and the incident has attracted widespread attention.
The police issued a statement saying that the criminals mailed the doctored indecent photos to the victim's workplace and threatened the victim to contact the email address in the letter. After the victim reaches out to the attacker with an email address, they threaten to send money or post the photo on social media.
The victims also included Foreign Minister Vivian Vivian, the Hon Wing Yip Hon Wing from the Yio Chu Kang Single Constituency, and the Hon Hon Hsieh Ping Fai from the Netherlands-Bukit Timah GRC and the Hon Chan Yau Meng from the Jurong GRC. The lawmakers have made the matter public on social media and have reported the incident to the police.
This is not the first time that deepfakes and scams have been discovered, and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong have also been targeted by scammers.
Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian said on Facebook: "We must come together to address these challenges and ensure that these bad practices are not allowed to undermine the values and practices of our society." ”
Yeo Chu Kang single-constituency MP Yip Hon Wing posted on Facebook about the incident in which he and other MPs received a ransom note containing fabricated images. He said that such behavior is contrary to social values and has been reported to the police and is under investigation. The public should remain vigilant in the face of disinformation and fraud and unite against these malicious acts. He reiterated that they will not be intimidated and will continue to serve the people with determination.
MP Tse Binghui said on social media that the ransom note contained a photo of his face being synthesized onto another person. "Many of our members of Congress and the public have received these distressing letters," he noted. While the face of extortion scams is nothing new, the rise of so-called 'deepfake' technology has made it harder to tell the real from the fake. This technology poses a significant threat to the fabric of our society. ”
MP Chan Yau Ming also shared on Instagram that the police have intervened in the investigation. "This kind of thing can happen to anyone in the public sphere," he stressed. We will not be intimidated by any threats, nor will we let anyone stop us from doing our duty. ”
Please be vigilant and verify any suspicious content with a reliable source. We should work together to ensure that false information is not allowed to influence our judgment.
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