Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a Facebook post warned citizens to be wary of online scams, fake news or ads featuring his image, and to report them to the police.
PM Lee also shared a screenshot of a fake ad which masqueraded as a legitimate news site which falsely claimed that the PM endorses cryptocurrency investments.
In his post, PM Lee noted that his pictures tend to spread online after a major speech or announcement which generates significant media coverage.
"Scammers will capitalise on this and use my image to run crypto scams and fake ads," he wrote. However, he asserted that these messages are definitely not endorsed by him.
"If the ad uses my image to sell you a product, asks you to invest in some scheme, or even uses my voice to tell you to send money, it's not me," PM Lee added.
He said that he was made aware of the recent rise in scams and fake ads featuring his face by "alert Singaporeans" who wrote in.
Subsequently, PM Lee came across such fake ads himself while surfing the internet, and reported them to the relevant teams.
PM Lee advised those who come across scams, fake news or ads to report them via the official ScamShield Bot on WhatsApp.
People who have fallen victim to an online scam can lodge an online police report.
These type of fake posts have popped up before. In April 2022, cryptocurrency articles featuring PM Lee, similar to the one in his recent post, were circulated online.
The police warned that these are usually paid online advertisements that use clickbait headlines and redirect users to a different website offering investments in trading cryptocurrencies or other financial products.
In March 2020, false personal emails claiming to be from PM Lee were circulated, requesting the 'contribution and thoughts' of Singaporeans regarding the COVID-19 situation.
Lee denounced the emails as a 'phishing scam' intended to obtain respondents' personal information, and lodged a police report against them.