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SCMP’s Asia desk

At first glance, the images looked like those of a happy family in Singapore. There were photos of the couple during their school days and on dates, the woman pregnant and the man holding their supposed newborn with a caption that read: “My boys”.
Except the family did not exist – the images were all AI-generated.
The man in the photos did not even know about them until a friend alerted him in December last year, The Straits Times reported on Sunday. In real life, he was not married or in a relationship.
“It is traumatising to learn that your pictures were used in such an elaborate narrative,” said Luke, who asked for a pseudonym to protect his identity.
A few weeks after the administrative assistant saw the photos, he realised who the woman in them was: a former schoolmate he had last seen 15 years ago.
The woman had posted the photos on her Instagram account. A check by The Straits Times shows that her account has been deactivated.
I spoke no more than two sentences to her when we were in school
Luke, a Singaporean administrative assistant
“I spoke no more than two sentences to her when we were in school,” Luke said. “From the very few times I’ve seen or had any interactions with her, I had no idea she was capable of doing this.”
Some of the doctored images showed his sister’s son and daughter aged six months and one year.
“We were very worried and concerned that this stranger has photos and videos of my children stored in her phone and was sharing them online as and when she likes,” Luke’s sister said. “It has made us quite paranoid and anxious about sharing anything online now.”
She tried to contact the woman to ask for the photos to be taken down, but did not receive a response.
In desperation, she put up a post on Threads on June 7 about the experience. After it went viral, receiving over 12,000 likes, the woman contacted her. “She said she did it out of love for my brother. Living in this fairy-tale world and getting attention made her feel happy and good.”
Luke has made a police report while he and his sister have changed the settings of all their social media accounts to private. Lawyers have advised Luke to also get an order under Singapore’s Protection from Harassment Act.
“This can cover her acts of posting AI-generated photos, impersonation and false online posts,” Kevin Liew, the crime practice head at law firm Gloria James-Civetta and Co, told The Straits Times.
It was not necessary to prove that the offender intended to harass, he said. “It is enough that the conduct is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, which may be proven by the fabricated relationship, the fake pregnancy and the use of family pictures.”


Clinical psychologist Carol Balhetchet said the woman was showing signs of delusional thinking and should get psychological help.
“This can go on forever until such time as there is a situation – good or bad in her head – for her to finally get in physical contact with her victim,” Balhetchet said.
In Luke’s case, the AI tool used appeared to be basic, with an image of him cutting a cake changed into him carrying a baby.
However, some deepfakes can look more convincing.
In 2024, a part-time Singaporean model was blackmailed with AI-generated sexually explicit images after she posed for an audition. The scammer threatened to circulate the photos if she did not pay him thousands of dollars.
She made a police report. “Even filing the report was so traumatising,” she said. “At that point in time, I just forced myself to do it because I didn’t want someone else to go through this.”
In a January report, GovTech warned: “Deepfakes have rapidly evolved into a serious digital threat, eroding the line between fact and fiction. As AI capabilities accelerate, the arms race between fabrication and detection will intensify.”
Last November, Singapore passed a bill to strengthen online safety while protecting victims of online harms. The Online Safety Commission, which starts operations on June 29, will be empowered to issue directions to address 13 categories of online harms – including online harassment and intimate image abuse.


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Luke, who is single and not dating anyone, says a former female schoolmate of his has used AI to create images of him. Photo: Threads


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The man, who says he hardly knew the schoolmate, has filed a police report and set all his social media accounts to private


The man, who says he hardly knew the schoolmate, has filed a police report and set all his social media accounts to private.


Artificial intelligence

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Singaporean man traumatised over ex-schoolmate’s AI photos of them as family

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The man, who says he hardly knew the schoolmate, has filed a police report and set all his social media accounts to private

The man, who says he hardly knew the schoolmate, has filed a police report and set all his social media accounts to private