Opaque ‘consulting firm’ website trying to hire former Singapore foreign ministry personnel

More than half of the websites also tried to create an impression of having multinational staff. Checks by CNA suggested that many of the staff biographies and photos were either generated by AI or altered versions belonging to real academics.

One example was Afforesight (afforesight[.]com), which described itself as an independent think-tank headquartered in Singapore. 

Dr Zhao Litao, a real senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s East Asian Institute, was listed on Afforesight’s website as one of their experts without his knowledge. “I have never heard of this organisation and have not been involved in any of its activities,” Dr Zhao told CNA. “I have not authorised it to list me as a member of its ‘team of experts’ or to use my name, photograph or biography.” 

CNA has also contacted the East Asian Institute for comment.

Among 12 other experts listed by Afforesight was “Rachel Turner”, who supposedly served as the US ambassador to Norway from 2014 to 2017 and to Denmark from 2010 to 2013. However, official US State Department records identified different US ambassadors for those periods.

On its website, Afforesight listed its headquarters in Singapore as 8 Biomedical Grove, #04-02/03. A visit to the location found that the entire floor was taken up by a research facility operated by a pharmaceutical firm. There were no signs of any entity named Afforesight, including on the building directory.