Johor police have confirmed receiving a report from Tebrau MP Jimmy Puah claiming he was threatened via email with a fake pornographic video generated using artificial intelligence and demanding nearly RM470,000.
Johor police chief Ab Rahaman Arsad said the report was lodged today at 9.30am at the Permas Jaya police station.
“The case is being investigated under Section 385 of the Penal Code (for blackmail) and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (for misuse of network facilities),” Bernama reported him as saying today.
Yesterday, the Johor PKR vice-chief urged the government to expedite enacting laws to curb the misuse of AI after receiving an email at 5.30pm containing a fake pornographic video with his face edited into it.
“I believe it was made using deepfake technology. Several MPs have also become victims of this targeted cyber attack, which has greatly damaged our reputations,” he said.
Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil, who also received a similar threatening email, said the government takes the incidents seriously and will not tolerate the misuse of technology and communication networks to threaten or deceive the public.
He said the emails are believed to have been sent from the same email address.
Others who have received the threats include PKR‘s Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, DAP’s Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin, Bersatu’s Tasek Gelugor MP Wan Saiful Wan Jan and Gerakan’s Kulim assemblyman Wong Chia Zhen.
