Deepfake video lures Singapore national into fraudulent investment scheme

A Singaporean national has lost funds to scammers after falling for a deepfake video featuring a local minister endorsing cryptocurrency investments. According to reports, the victim, 75-year-old Victor, stumbled upon an advertisement created by a local minister promoting a crypto investment and believed it was a sign of credibility.

According to the victim, he had plans to stretch his retirement fund and thought he could do it by investing in a cryptocurrency investment scheme that was endorsed by the minister. However, the video turned out to be an AI-generated deepfake, and the crypto investment scheme was indeed a scam carried out by bad actors looking to take advantage of unsuspecting victims.

Singapore retiree loses funds to fake investment

In the statement given by the Singapore national, he mentioned that he was added to a WhatsApp group by an unknown number in January. After being added to the group, he discovered that its members were discussing a high-return crypto investment scheme. One of the members went ahead to share a video, which was apparently a deepfake, of a minister endorsing the crypto investment. After seeing the video, the man clicked on the link.

The new investor mentioned that after he clicked on the link, he was asked to fill out a registration form where he entered his personal details and accompanied it with a $250 registration fee via bank transfer. A while after his registration, he received a call from someone claiming to be from Coinbase, a crypto exchange that he had come to know as a legitimate United States-based exchange after his research into digital assets.

They conversed in English, and the caller told him about the benefits of trading on Coinbase. He added that a colleague would be in touch later to put Victor through the remaining process. Days later, the colleague video-called him and asked him to share his smartphone screen. He also ordered the Singaporean retiree to log into his Central Provident Fund (CPF) and bank accounts, and withdraw $4,400 from his CPF Ordinary account to his bank accounts to fund the investment.

The withdrawal was completed after the CPF’s daily withdrawal limit was increased. The limit increase was subject to a 12-hour cooling period. A week later, Victor told authorities that he received an SMS alert of a $3,999 withdrawal from his account, a transaction he claims he didn’t authorize. The caller called again after a while, sending the Singaporean more links, but he grew suspicious and wouldn’t have it. He refused to click on the link and started questioning him.

Authorities warn users about the rising rate of crypto scams

Victor claimed that he asked about the investment, but the caller was unable to give a response, choosing to hang up abruptly after promising to give an update on the trading outcome in three days. Suspecting it was a scam, he contacted the bank to report the incident and block his account. He also contacted the police to make a report. Although he lost $4,249, the Singaporean was relieved that he detected the scam early enough to prevent further losses.

According to a statement by Police Superintendent Rosie Ann McIntyre, assistant director of the Scam Public Education Office’s operations department, losses from investment scams have increased greatly. She noted that the victims are often enticed by the fake testimonies and endorsements, as in the case of the Singaporean. McIntyre noted that most times, the scammers take months to cultivate their victims till they are ready to deal a huge blow, then they move in for the kill.

She also added that the decentralized and pseudonymous nature of digital assets makes it easy for criminals to adopt the assets, while noting that it makes recovery efforts challenging. McIntyre said it is hard to trace these funds and identify those who are benefiting from them. On his part, Victor says he is now cautious of clicking on links that advertise great investment opportunities. He said he just ignores it if it looks too good to be true.