The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has warned of a sharp rise in sophisticated impersonation frauds, citing a recent incident where scammers staged a fabricated Zoom meeting impersonating senior government officials.
The virtual conference used deepfake AI-generated elements to impersonate Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and other leaders to mislead victims.
This warning, issued in a series of May advisories by the Singapore Police Force, highlights how fraudsters are mimicking senior political leaders to manufacture false authority.
“The scammers appear to be targeting business professionals who have had prior interactions with government officials,”
the police said.
The advisory coincides with two massive business email compromise cases that targeted local companies for more than US$40 million combined.
Scammers are increasingly blending AI tools with traditional social engineering to bypass corporate financial controls and execute unauthorized cross border transfers.
Deepfake meeting and forged documents
In the highlighted deepfake case, scammers impersonated Secretary to the Cabinet Wong Hong Kuan. They contacted the victim via WhatsApp to arrange an urgent virtual meeting regarding the situation at the Straits of Hormuz.
The victim received an email from a fake official address containing a forged government letter of guarantee bearing the Prime Minister’s signature.
The letter claimed the Singapore government would reimburse any funding assistance within 15 business days.
“Members of the public should be vigilant against scams that involve the impersonation of senior government officials,”
the police said, noting that victims are often asked to sign forged non-disclosure agreements before joining these calls.
Footage obtained by the police showed a highly elaborate fabricated Zoom meeting. Scammers simulated the presence of Singapore’s President, the Prime Minister, a cabinet minister, and representatives from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
The call also featured fake foreign diplomats from Canada and the UAE, alongside purported representatives from Blackrock and the Dubai International Financial Centre.
The victim was introduced as a private sector participant. Following fake briefings on the Straits of Hormuz, the meeting ended with a deepfake video of the Prime Minister delivering closing remarks.
The AI-generated video specifically acknowledged the victim’s attendance to build credibility.
Following the meeting, the victim transferred S$4.9 million to a scammer-controlled corporate bank account before realising the deception on 14 May.
Corporate funds targeted
Separately, in the first business email compromise case, the CEO of a Singapore based firm received a WhatsApp call from an individual posing as the chairman of the company’s headquarters.
The executive was instructed to assume responsibility for an acquisition project and arrange the necessary funding.
Between 13 and 17 April 2026, the company transferred US$36.3 million from local and overseas accounts into two local OCBC bank accounts.
The CEO uncovered the deception after verifying the transaction with the actual Chairman.
The Anti-Scam Centre intervened and successfully seized US$9.7 million from the local accounts.
By that time, the perpetrators had already wired approximately US$26.5 million to accounts in Hong Kong.
The Anti-Scam Centre worked with Hong Kong authorities to freeze over US$11.1 million from bank accounts and associated cryptocurrency wallets.
Police arrested two Singaporeans for suspected involvement in facilitating the opening of a corporate bank account to receive the illicit funds.
Authorities continue to conduct investigations and have not filed any charges at the time of publication.
Cross border recovery efforts
A separate incident saw a Singapore based commodity trading firm tricked into transferring US$6.6 million to a fraudulent bank account in Oman.
Staff received an email from what appeared to be a legitimate supplier.
The scammer subtly altered the domain name by transposing two letters, deceiving employees into authorising the transfer on 29 April.
Employees discovered the fraud the next day after the genuine supplier confirmed there had been no change to their banking details.
Coordinated efforts between Singapore, the UAE, Oman, and HSBC Singapore resulted in the full recovery of the stolen funds.
These cases demonstrate a growing vulnerability in corporate payment approval processes.
The incidents underscore how scammers are combining social engineering, email spoofing, and AI-generated content to establish false urgency and authority.
Watch a quick breakdown of how this scam was pulled off, and why the technology behind it is only going to get more convincing from here.
@fintechnewsnetwork Singapore Prime Minister Deepfake; $4.9m Loss A Singapore businessman lost S$4.9 million on a Zoom call with a fake PM Lawrence Wong. fintech Deepfake Security fraud
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Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Singapore Police Force via TikTok and thanyakij-12 via Magnific