Think-tank claiming to be S’pore-based used AI profiles…

A fraudulent organization calling itself the Institute of East Asia Strategic Studies (IEASS) has been using fabricated employee profiles to target security analysts and intelligence personnel. The entity claimed to be based in Singapore and published analytical reports on Asian security issues while attempting to solicit information from experts in Singapore, Taiwan, and beyond.

What happened

The IEASS campaign utilized a network of synthetic identities to build perceived legitimacy. Investigations revealed that of the 12 individuals listed as employees, only three maintained public LinkedIn profiles, and these accounts exhibited clear signs of fabrication. Profile pictures for figures such as Travis Walker and Viga Oborski displayed visual artifacts around glasses and ears characteristic of AI-generated imagery, and facial-recognition searches returned no results. Furthermore, multiple individuals claiming to hold degrees from the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) were flagged by the university, which confirmed no record of their enrollment and noted that the claimed degree programs do not exist.

The institute claimed to be founded in 2019 and listed an office at Millenia Walk, but physical checks confirmed the entity had no presence at that location. The website eventually removed its address and phone number, which had used a UK country code. The organization’s outreach strategy involved contacting high-level targets, including a NATO employee, under the guise of professional exchanges and off-the-record conversations, sometimes offering competitive fees for analytical briefs.

Research by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies linked IEASS to two other entities, Sentinel Global Affairs and Strategy (SGAS) and East Asia Strategic Insights (EASI). These sites shared similar infrastructure, were built using the AI platform Lovable, and falsely claimed to have been cited by major news outlets. While the specific origin remains unconfirmed, security experts noted that the use of fabricated think-tanks to gather sensitive intelligence mirrors previous state-sponsored influence operations.