Deepfake Detector App and the SGD 35,000 Romance Scam

Singapore actor Laurence Pang lost SGD 35,000 in an AI romance scam. If a public figure who lives on camera can be fooled by synthetic media, the rest of us should be worried.

Even the media-savvy get caught

Romance scams work because they hack emotions, not devices. The scammer builds intimacy over weeks: daily messages, shared jokes, plans for the future. AI-generated photos and videos make the persona feel tangible. Voice notes, possibly cloned, make it feel human. By the time funds enters the conversation, the victim is invested emotionally, which is exactly the point. The new rule is simple: anyone you met online who avoids a verified video call is hiding something, and anyone who insists on video might be faking that too. Verify, do not trust. Romance should not require forensics, but here we are.

Pang's case is a useful reality check. Media literacy helps, but these scams are engineered to bypass rational thinking. The persona is designed to be exactly what the target wants. Scepticism feels like cruelty when someone is telling you they love you.

A deepfake detector app is the cold shower this situation needs. Those intimate photos and videos? Run them through detection before your heart overrules your head. And since romance scammers love voice notes, learning how to detect deepfake voice calls is essential: deepfake voice detection can flag a cloned voice in the messages you have already received. Evidence first, feelings second.

Someone new in your DMs sending photos and voice notes? Try the AI Detector on all of it.