SINGAPORE, May 15 -- A victim has lost at least S$4.9 million (RM15.3 million) in a stunningly sophisticated scam that used deepfake AI technology to impersonate Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during a Zoom video conference.

The Singapore Police Force disclosed this in a public advisory yesterday, warning that scammers are now targeting business professionals with elaborate ruses involving the impersonation of senior government officials.

In this particular case, the elaborate deception began when the victim received a WhatsApp message from someone posing as the Secretary to the Cabinet, Wong Hong Kuan, instructing him to attend a meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

The victim was then sent an email from a fraudulent a...