SINGAPORE: Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong took to Facebook on Sunday (June 2) to warn the public about a video altered to look and sound like he was advertising an investment product.
He urged those who came across the video to report it via the ScamShield Bot on WhatsApp. “Please remember, if something sounds too good to be true, do proceed with caution,” wrote the former Prime Minister.
He also thanked those who notified him about the deepfaked ad and expressed concern that “people watching the video may be fooled into thinking that I really said those words.”
Similar ads have used videos and photos of Mr Lee, as well as those of other political figures in Singapore.
However, an hour later, a netizen posted on the Complaint Singapore Facebook page about a “CNA” ad on the site, which was clickbait about a purported major scandal.
The post author, Mr Clarence Cheang, included the link with the ad. This link is said to contain “multiple web threats,” such as malicious code that could infect the gadgets when clicked, so readers are strongly advised against doing so.
Moreover, Mr Cheang wrote that he reported the ad to Facebook’s parent company, Meta Business Support, which “apparently certif(ied) that the ad is legit!!!!!”
He posted a screengrab of Meta Business Support’s response, which said the advertisement did not violate the company’s Advertising Standards but that he could “request a review.”
On a similar note, a Reddit user put up a post on May 31 showing the deepfaked video SM Lee had referred to.
He captioned it by writing, “Poor LHL.. meta and their scams are too messed up.. even how much i report them.. it just always get ignored, or declined.”
Poor LHL.. meta and their scams are too messed up.. even how much i report them.. it just always get ignored, or declined.
byu/hwei8 insingapore
In a comment on the thread, he reiterated how “annoying” it is that Meta declined to remove the ad when he reported it, adding that he sometimes wished he worked with the company so he “could fix the issues.”
“Scams are like Covid.. it keeps on spreading.. we need a layer of understanding to make sure everyone understand,” he added.
“The best part is when you report it and then they reply, ‘thanks for reporting, we have not found any issues with the ad you reported. We encourage you to make reports so we can tackle the spam’ lol jokers,” a Reddit user responded.
Others said that while people should not be gullible about this type of financial advice that promises high returns, more can be done to protect them from scams.
“Meta probably don’t care about ‘scam’ reports, so I always report as trying to impersonate someone or political ads But the sad thing is that new account posting the same ads will emerge quicker that it being taken down,” another wrote./TISG
Read also: PM Lee warns public after scams using his image emerge again