Wah kakis, gather round because if you thought you’ve seen every possible Singaporean drama, think again. We have officially reached peak 21st-century absurdity: AI-assisted catfishing, vigilante extortion, Buy-Now-Pay-Later payment plans, multi-million dollar deepfake boardrooms, and a dose of post-crime clarity that will leave you shaking your head.

It all started with a classic storyline: a guy wanting to play the hero.

Enter 20-year-old Anthony. Anthony found out that his female friend was being persistently bothered online by a guy named Lai. Now, a normal person in Singapore would usually block the guy, make a police report, or at most give him a stern verbal warning. But Anthony? Anthony decided to execute a high-tech sting operation straight out of a thriller movie.

Phase 1: Enter ChatGPT (The AI Wingman)

Instead of typing messages himself, Anthony brought artificial intelligence into the mix. He opened up ChatGPT and instructed the AI to act and talk like a 14-year-old girl.

Powered by generative AI, the chat strategy worked like a charm. Lai swallowed the bait completely, flirting back with “she” who was actually ChatGPT + Anthony. Eventually, Anthony (posing as the teen) convinced Lai to meet up in person at an MRT station.

Phase 2: The Toa Payoh Showdown

Expecting a sweet date with a young girl, Lai showed up at Toa Payoh MRT station holding all his hopeful expectations. But instead of a 14-year-old girl, Anthony spawned out of nowhere like a final boss in an RPG, declaring himself as the girl’s “fierce older brother”.

Anthony immediately confronted Lai aggressively. He forced a trembling Lai to pull out a packet of condoms from his own bag as “evidence”. To seal the trap, Anthony grabbed Lai’s IC, took a photo of it, and threatened to call the police right then and there to report him for soliciting a minor.

Phase 3: The $20,000 BNPL Extortion Package

Poor Lai completely broke down crying right there in Toa Payoh.

Sensing total leverage, Anthony shifted from vigilante older brother to full-fledged corporate loan shark. He demanded a massive S$20,000 “settlement fee” to refrain from calling the SPF.

Knowing that a young guy wouldn’t have $20,000 liquid cash lying around on the spot, Anthony actually designed a 5-year Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) installment plan:

• 💰 Total Penalty Demand: S$20,000
• 📅 Tenure: 5 Years (60 Months)
• 💳 Monthly Installment: S$300 / month
• ⚡ Downpayment: S$100 immediate transfer at midnight

Desperate to avoid jail and ruin, Lai agreed and transferred the S$100 downpayment via PayNow at midnight.

Phase 4: Post-Crime Clarity & The Apology to Mom

Here’s where the story takes a turn into pure comedy. The next morning, the adrenaline faded, and Anthony woke up with a massive dose of post-crime clarity.

He realized: “Eh wait… I just committed major extortion and criminal intimidation.”

Panicking and feeling genuine guilt, Anthony immediately PayNow-ed the S$100 refund back to Lai. But he didn’t stop there—he personally contacted Lai’s mother to offer a sincere apology for scaring her son!

Phase 5: Too Late, Bro!

Unfortunately for Anthony, remorse doesn’t pause the Singapore legal system. While Anthony was busy offering heartfelt apologies to Lai’s mom, Lai had already gone straight to the police station the night before to lodge an official police report.

The police tracked down Anthony, and he was promptly arrested for extortion. What started as an attempt to defend a friend devolved into blackmail, criminal threat, and a swift ticket to the State Courts.

🌐 The Dark Side: How Else Criminals Are Using AI

If you thought Anthony using ChatGPT to catfish a pest was wild, criminals and fraudsters around the world (and right here at home) are leveraging AI in ways that feel straight out of a sci-fi movie:

1. The $499,000 “Deepfake Boardroom” Zoom Scam (Singapore)

• The Scam: A finance director at a multinational firm in Singapore received WhatsApp messages from someone pretending to be the UK-based CFO asking for an urgent fund transfer.
• The AI Twist: To verify, the scammers hosted a Zoom call where the entire boardroom on screen were AI deepfakes with synced facial movements and cloned voices!
• The Result: Believing he was talking to his bosses, he sent US$499,000. Luckily, the police Anti-Scam Centre froze and recovered the funds!

2. The $25 Million Deepfake CFO Video Call (Hong Kong)

• The Scam: A finance worker in Hong Kong joined a video conference call with his CFO and several colleagues.
• The AI Twist: Even though the CFO looked slightly off, seeing other familiar colleagues reassured him. In reality, every single person on the call except him was a real-time deepfake persona created from public clips!
• The Result: He transferred HK$200 million (US$25 million) straight to the scammers across 15 separate transactions.

3. AI Voice-Cloning “Distress Call” Scams (Global & Regional)

• The Scam: Fraudsters scrape 3 to 5 seconds of a person’s voice from a public TikTok video or Instagram Reel.
• The AI Twist: Using voice-cloning AI, they call parents with a voice 100% identical to their child, crying desperately about an accident, hostage situation, or foreign bail money.
• The Result: Panicked parents end up transferring thousands of dollars out of panic before verifying if their child is actually safe in the next room.

💡 Key Takeaways & How to Protect Yourself

1. Do NOT play vigilante: If someone is harassing your friend, block them or let SPF handle it. Taking matters into your own hands will just land you in court.
2. ChatGPT is not a crime partner: Using AI to catfish people into extortion schemes is still extortion. OpenAI isn’t covering your bail.
3. BNPL is for online shopping, not blackmail: You cannot invoice someone $300/month for 5 years for illegal settlements!
4. Seeing/Hearing is no longer believing: Set a secret “Family Safe Word” for emergencies, and always hang up to call back on an official line before transferring money!