SINGAPORE (ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES) – Shortly after connecting with a woman on the dating app OkCupid, John (pseudonym) received unsettling news: a friend informed him that someone had circulated a photo allegedly showing John in the nude.
According to John, 21, he identified the woman as someone he had met on OkCupid in June 2024.
During their interaction, Janice had requested they communicate via video call on Telegram. Shortly thereafter, she sent him a manipulated photo featuring his face on the body of a nude man.
John recounted to the source that he had never shared any photos with the woman, including any nude images. Their interaction had been limited to just one video call.
Unknown to John, the image used against him was a deepfake, employing advanced face-swapping artificial intelligence (AI) technology to superimpose his face onto another person’s body.
The source’s investigation has revealed that at least four men have fallen victim to what is now known as “deepfake sexploitation”, where scammers threaten to distribute manipulated images to coerce victims into paying money.
John refused to comply with the demand, but unfortunately, others fell victim and ended up paying substantial amounts, with one person coerced into making repeated payments.
Two of the victims initially connected with Janice on OkCupid, a dating platform that charges between SGD10.89 and SGD32.46 for various membership tiers.
According to Janice’s OkCupid profile, she claimed to be a 21-year-old of half-Japanese descent residing in Singapore, with a love for sushi.
John described their initial connection on June 1, noting that it took a day for them to match. They began chatting through OkCupid’s messaging feature and subsequently exchanged contacts on Telegram and Instagram.
After four days, Janice proposed a video call, which John agreed to. “She looked slightly different from her profile picture, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. However, I found it odd how persistent she was about the call,” John remarked, noting that her voice did not sound Singaporean.
“As the call progressed, she started making provocative statements like ‘I want to do it now’,” John recalled.
He decided they were not a good match and ended the call. A few hours later, John received a message from his friend about the deepfake nude image. Janice’s threat followed shortly after that.
Although shocked, John ignored the threat since he knew his conscience was clear. He also searched for advice online. “I learnt that scammers usually do not carry out the threat, because they are only after the money,” he said.
John saw that Janice had deleted her OkCupid account before he paused his own.
On the same day John was blackmailed by Janice, he received a message from his friend Sam (not his real name), also 21. Both men are full-time national servicemen.
Sam wanted to know if John knew Janice, because he noticed that John followed her Instagram account. It turned out that Sam was a victim too.
He met Janice on OkCupid around the same time as John. She did the same thing with Sam – chats on the app and then a video call on Telegram.
The threat was also similar, except she wanted him to pay SGD2,000.
Sam feared that nobody would believe him and paid up.
Joel (not his real name), 25, also caved in.
In his case, the scammers squeezed him for a total of SGD2,200, after initially demanding SGD700.
In August 2023, Joel clicked on a phishing e-mail, which he thought was a response to a scholarship he had applied for. He was redirected to a website that scanned his face.
A few days later, he received an explicit video of himself from an unknown user. He was horrified, as he realised it was a deepfake. The scammers threatened to distribute the video to his friends unless he paid them SGD700.
Joel said: “I was scared because they said they had the contacts of my relatives, friends and colleagues. The video looked quite realistic, too.”
He paid the scammers the money and pleaded with them to delete the video. They demanded more money and Joel paid SGD2,200 over three transactions before he sought help.
“I realised there was no stopping, so I talked to my brother, who suggested I report the incident to the police,” said Joel.
DEEPFAKE SEXTORTION
The number of scam cases in Singapore hit a record high in 2023, with over 46,000 cases reported. That year, scam victims lost a total of SGD651.8 million.
Of the top 10 scam types reported by the Singapore Police Force in 2023, internet love scams ranked fourth, with victims losing SGD39.8 million.
Victims of internet love scams are tricked into sending money or gifts to scammers, hiding behind fake social media profiles. The scammers usually act affectionately to gain the trust of victims before asking for money.
While the police have figures for most scams, they do not track the number of deepfake-related scams.
In a written reply to a parliamentary question, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said in April 2024 that there have been some reports where the complainants alleged that deepfake techniques were used by the scammers.
But he added that the number is not high.
Deepfake sextortion is a new phenomenon, but it has made headlines overseas.
In Britain in April 2024, a man was blackmailed with a deepfaked video of himself masturbating. He suspected that the scammer had obtained his contacts and camera gallery after he picked up a phone call from an unknown number.
Mr Leonardo Hutabarat, head of solutions engineering for Asia-Pacific and Japan at cyber-security firm LogRhythm, said: “As the public becomes more aware of AI technology and deepfake software, the use of deepfake scams for schemes like sextortion is likely to rise, especially in Asia.”
Some of the scammers are operating out of centres established in Cambodia. Many of the people carrying out the scams were lured with false job premises but forced to run an online scam, said Mr Hutabarat.
He said the Indian government was reported to have rescued 250 of its citizens from Cambodia in April 2024 who were forced to work at the centres and carry out scams, including sextortion.
He added: “These scams typically target individuals seeking romantic relationships and can cause significant damage to victims.”
Mr Hutabarat said scammers have also used deepfake tools to clone voices of friends, family members or authority figures to make urgent requests for money transfers or sensitive information.
He said: “The fake audio sounds extremely realistic, making it hard to detect.”
CYBER THREATS
The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) said the rise of generative AI (gen AI), which matured significantly in 2023, can increase productivity by automating repetitive tasks and allow for more efficient creation processes.
However, it also brings a new dimension to cyber threats, such as the ability to create deepfakes.
“As user-friendly gen AI tools and tutorials become increasingly available, anyone who is moderately tech-savvy can get started and produce decent deepfakes within a relatively short period of time.
“With such lowered barriers to entry, we expect to see an increase in the creation and usage of deepfakes, which can be used for various malicious purposes,” said a spokesperson for the agency.
In February 2024, CSA said a finance worker at a multinational firm in the Asia-Pacific region was tricked into transferring USD25 million (SGD34 million) to scammers who used deepfake technology to pose as the company’s chief financial officer in a video conference call.
Mr Hutabarat said some companies are even offering services called Deepfakes-as-a-Service, where customers can obtain professional deepfake content for a fee.
CSA, which provides an advisory on how to detect deepfakes on its website, said those who have been subjected to a deepfake scam should alert the police and notify any organisation involved.
“Netizens who have been targeted are advised not to pay scammers, as paying them does not guarantee that they will stop,” CSA added.
Mr Hutabarat said it is essential for the victim to alert the police so that the scammer is held accountable and the explicit images are not shared.
He said: “Gathering evidence is crucial for any investigation, so it’s important to keep a record of all communications and ensure that no malicious software has been installed on the victim’s system.”
Of the four victims the source contacted, only Joel has filed a police report.
“I realised the scammer will never stop. I am just a student, I could not afford to lose so much money,” he said, adding that he wished he had spoken to his brother sooner.
“I feel like I was too naive and wasn’t cautious. I should have noticed it was a fake email,” Joel added.
Dr Annabelle Chow, clinical psychologist at Annabelle Psychology, said that victims are often anxious and end up paying the scammers despite knowing the images are fake.
“There’s a lot of insecurity from the victim because the image can seem very realistic. Other people might not be able to tell real from fake. There will also always be an element of doubt or judgement from someone who views the fake image,” she said.
