Man’s face 'deep-faked' onto porn video after picking up call from UK number
A Singaporean man's face was transferred onto a pornographic video using deepfake technology after his phone was allegedly hacked when he picked up a call from an unknown number.
In screenshots of a text exchange between the man, Owen Law, 20, and a recipient of the “deepfake” video known on Facebook as Ednes Lee, Law claimed his ordeal began when he picked up a call from a UK number.
He hung up when he didn't hear the caller speaking.
The alleged hacker then texted him, in Chinese, on messaging app Line under the name "Lori", sending him screenshots of the contacts that Law had on his phone.
They also sent him a porn video that had his face transposed onto it.
Law said the hacker had stolen the pictures stored on his phone, including one of him half-naked from the waist up that was edited onto the video.
Screenshots of a text exchange he had with the hacker showed the hacker attempting to blackmail Law with the video, demanding that he pay $8,000.
They threatened to send the video to his contacts if he didn’t pay up, but said that as long as they received the money, they would delete the video and not bother him again.
Law refused to pay and ignored the hacker's texts.
Many of his friends and ex-colleagues then began receiving the video from multiple overseas numbers.
Ednes then texted Law after the hacker contacted her from an unknown Malaysian number, asking her if she knew Law. The hacker accused Law of not paying up after "engaging the services of a sex worker".
Ednes and Law were not actual friends, but the latter had her contact as he had bought a gaming top-up card from her before.
When Ednes contacted Law, he explained what had happened.
Law has since made a police report, in which he says he had not shared his passwords with anyone, nor visited any "unknown websites or links".
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