I write about scammers. Now, they are writing as me

SINGAPORE - I am no Elon Musk.

Yet, I recently found my name being used to perpetrate investment scams.

It is a bitter irony.

For nearly a decade, I have been dissecting scam operations, watching them evolve from the love scams of 2017 to today’s rapid-fire phishing attacks.

I have documented how scammers weaponise the latest news and latch on to new technology with terrifying speed.

Now, they are impersonating me and my colleagues to promote investments with high returns, which are actually scams.

It was only a matter of time, I suppose, but it was still a jolt to receive a reader’s e-mail in December 2025 with the subject header: Online Trading Platform – Zorvex Helion 8.9.

“Hi David,” he began. “I would just like to confirm with you if you did try out this online trading platform, as I came across an article stating that you had tried out the platform.”

Attached was a screenshot of a fabricated news article.

It featured a photo of NUS president Tan Eng Chye, bizarrely misidentified as a Lee Zhi Hao.

The article claimed that I, as a correspondent for The Straits Times, had tested this “AI-driven trading platform”.

It claimed that I had deposited $250, which grew to $811 in seven days.

It even fabricated quotes from me expressing my surprise as the balance kept increasing.

I had not deposited a single cent into any such platform.

I told the reader it was a scam and that I neither use nor endorse such platforms. No ST journalist would promote such sites.

That was that. Or so I thought.

Over the next few weeks, I received messages from friends, colleagues and family, who had been approached by people who came across similar fake articles of “me” promoting investment platforms.

The platforms had absurd names like Zenith Finrevo, Valorium Dexeris and Zorvex Helion.

The narrative was always the same: Victims would see a social media post masquerading as a legitimate financial news article.

Clicking the link led them to glowing quotes from “ST correspondent David Sun”, conveniently placed right next to a form asking for their personal details to start making money.

And then came an e-mail from another reader in January, asking me about an artificial intelligence trading platform she had already signed up for after seeing me “endorsing” it.

She had handed over her personal details, and the scammers had called her, guiding her in creating an account and depositing her money into it.

Thankfully, I contacted her quickly enough. She filed a police report and had her bank freeze her accounts before any damage was done.

Even now, the messages and e-mails from readers keep coming.

Scammers have routinely used the names and faces of President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong for similar ploys.

Investment scams cost victims in Singapore more than any other scam type.

In 2025, there were 6,814 reported cases, with victims losing over $320.7 million.

To tackle this, the Government used the Online Criminal Harms Act to issue a directive to Meta in September 2025.

It required the parent company of Facebook to implement measures targeting scam advertisements, accounts and pages impersonating key government office-holders, with failure to comply carrying a fine of up to $1 million.

In January, a second directive was issued to Meta to implement facial recognition measures for notable Facebook users in Singapore to tackle impersonation scams in phases, with full implementation by June 30.

But is this enough?

When scammers impersonate public figures, they are stealing something far more valuable than money.

They are stealing trust.

They are banking on the credibility built over years to bypass the public’s scepticism.

It might take months of persuasion from friends, family and the authorities to wake them up to the truth.

As a last resort, the police might have to use restriction orders to protect stubborn scam victims from themselves.

But even with all the measures in place, some scams will slip through defences.

This is why the fight against scams cannot rely solely on legislation, directives, or the compliance of tech giants.

It has to be fought on the ground, in our homes, and across our family WhatsApp groups.

The number of scam cases may have fallen in 2025, but the fight is far from over.

The front line remains the screen in your hand.

If there were truly a secret AI platform capable of turning $250 into a fortune overnight, it would not be hawked through a Facebook ad.

And it certainly would not be fronted by a journalist.

So, if you see me promising you wealth on a platform called Zorvex Helion, do us both a favour.

Report the post, and keep your money in the bank.