Finance director nearly loses $670k to scammers using deepfakes to pose as senior execs
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The victim became aware of the scam only when the scammer asked for an additional US$1.4 million (S$1.9 million) to be transferred.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
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SINGAPORE - The police have urged businesses and employees to guard against scammers using deepfake technology to pose as senior executives, after a finance director of a multinational corporation nearly lost over US$499,000 (S$670,000).
In a statement on April 7, the police said its Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) worked with the Hong Kong Police Force’s Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC) to recover the money that was lost to a business-related impersonation scam involving digital manipulation.
On March 24, the finance director was contacted on WhatsApp by a scammer impersonating the company’s chief financial officer.
He was told to participate in a video conference on a supposed restructuring of the firm’s regional business on March 26 as well as to link up with an executive partner of a law firm.
Later, he received a call from a man pretending to be the lawyer, who told him the importance of the project and the need for confidentiality. He was then made to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
On March 25, the victim was told that the video conference was rescheduled to that day itself.
He joined the Zoom video conference with the company’s chief executive officer and other stakeholders, who were impersonated using deepfake technology.
At the video conference and through subsequent correspondence with the fake lawyer, the victim was instructed to transfer over US$499,000 from the company’s HSBC bank account to another local corporate bank account, which he carried out on March 26.
The victim was not aware that the beneficiary corporate bank account was a money mule account under the control of the scammers.
From the account, funds amounting to over US$494,000 were transferred to Hong Kong bank accounts.
The victim became aware of the scam only on March 27 when the scammer asked for an additional US$1.4 million to be transferred. He quickly alerted HSBC, which immediately notified the ASC.
The ASC was able to establish the destination of the scam proceeds and sought help from its Hong Kong counterparts to recover the money.
On March 28, the ADCC successfully withheld the full amount that had been transferred to the Hong Kong bank accounts.
The ASC also seized the remaining amount of over US$5,000 in the local mule account.
To better guard against such scams, the police in its statement advised businesses to establish protocols for employees to verify the authenticity of any video calls or messages, particularly those from senior executives or key stakeholders.
It also urged employees to be mindful of sudden or urgent fund transfer instructions and to verify the authenticity of the instructions with the relevant departments or people directly through established communication channels.
Scam victims in Singapore lost $1.1 billion in 2024
Almost 25 per cent of this involved cryptocurrency, a surge from the 6.8 per cent of total losses in 2023, the police said in February. Investigations into the case are ongoing.
