Recipients of the email, who were asked to pay US$50,000, had their faces superimposed on an image purporting to be a screenshot from a "compromising" video.

More than 100 public servants, including five ministers, have been targeted in a deepfake email extortion scam demanding US$50,000 (RM222,000) in cryptocurrency, Singapore’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) confirmed yesterday.

Over 100 public servants, including ministers, in Singapore received extortion emails threatening to publish doctored videos unless a ransom of US$50,000 was paid. Investigations are ongoing.

SINGAPORE: Staff from public healthcare institutions have been receiving e-mails threatening to distribute doctored explicit images of them.

Staff from Singapore’s public healthcare institutions have become targets of an extortion scheme, with victims receiving emails containing fake