SINGAPORE, May 17 — Singapore police have obtained footage of a fabricated Zoom video conference used in a scam impersonating senior government officials, including Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. 

The police released a video on Facebook yesterday, and an alert on how it detected signs of deepfake technology in the bogus Singapore government Zoom call, highlighting one case in which the victim lost at least S$4.9 million (RM17.15 million) to scammers pitching funding assistance related to the Strait of Hormuz crisis.

The police said victims were first contacted via WhatsApp by scammers posing as a Cabinet secretary, then invited to join a Zoom call featuring deepfake versions of Singapore officials and foreign representatives. 

A separate scammer, posing as a lawyer, would later follow up to pressure victims into transferring funds.

In its assessment of the footage, police said several technical indicators exposed the manipulation. 

Speech did not synchronise with lip movements, suggesting pre-recorded video with layered fake audio, while the call appeared to be broadcast from a single account rather than individual participants. 

Investigators also noted a distorted background and a partially obscured Zoom logo that did not align with the foreground, consistent with AI-generated fabrication.

Police said scammers are increasingly targeting business professionals with prior government-linked interactions, and urged the public to remain vigilant in virtual communications.