Incident·WS-0099·May 2026·disclosed May 14, 2026·in the wild·Deepfakes & fraud
Deepfaked Singapore PM on Zoom costs businessman S$4.9M
37/100
WS-2 ModerateHarm score 55, signal score 16. Autonomy: tool (a person misused it). How the scores work.
Harm 3/5
damage actually done
Reach 1/5
who was affected
Autonomy 0/4
how much the AI did on its own
Novelty 2/5
how new the behavior was
Permanence 4/5
how hard it is to undo
Scammers posed as Singapore's Cabinet Secretary on WhatsApp, sent a forged letter bearing the Prime Minister's signature, and staged a Zoom call with deepfaked senior officials. They persuaded a businessman to wire funds for a supposedly urgent state matter. Singapore police issued a public advisory on 14 May 2026.
Damage
≥S$4.9 million (~US$3.8M) lost
Sources
Malay Mail, second source. The exact transfer dates were not stated; the date shown is the advisory date.
Factor ratings and the score are this index’s judgments by a published formula; facts, dates and figures come from the linked sources. Where a lawsuit is pending, the summary reports allegations, not findings.
