‘OnlyFake’ is Pumping Out Hyper-Realistic Fake IDs, Photos Included
A site called “OnlyFake” is allegedly pumping out incredibly realistic images of fake IDs using artificial intelligence — and the fakes seem to work.
In a report, 404 Media said it tested the site, finding near-instant results of a fake California’s driver’s license. The article says the publication was able to input the “name, biographical information, address, expiration date, and signature we wanted,” completing customizing the counterfeit. It’s also possible for users to scroll through OnlyFake’s archive of images, which it says are not AI-generated, should they choose not to attach their own face to the fraudulent document.
The example 404 Media showed even placed the fake ID on a carpet background, which the report says some sites require for verification. OnlyFake evens goes so far as to alter the metadata of its images, spoofing GPS coordinates and making it appear as though a smartphone took the images, which is far more believable when thinking of how most people photograph their ID.
OnlyFake posted even more examples of its counterfeit ID images on social media app Telegram, including a driver’s license from Arizona and passports from the U.S., Canada, Austria, and Switzerland, among other countries, according to 404 Media.
Further, the publication actually tested one of the images OnlyFake spat out and was able to pass the identity verification process of cryptocurrency exchange site OKX with a fake British passport.
OnlyFake claims it accomplishes the quick and efficient way of making fake IDs by using “neural networks” and “generators,” 404 Media reports. The site even claims it makes up to 20,000 documents a day and that “that hundreds of documents can be generated at once using data from an Excel table.” However, 404 Media said it was unable to verify whether AI generation was actually at play here.
Interestingly, 404 Media says the backgrounds, which help shore up the believably, might actually be real pictures rather than AI-generated images. In addition to the carpet, the report points out other IDs posted to the OnlyFake Telegram against hard surfaces or on top of a blanket.
“The backgrounds of the images—the fabric, the hard surface—appear to be real photos. 404 Media compared several different outputs from OnlyFake that showed different IDs laying on the same distinctive background. OnlyFake appears to be then using its technology to rapidly map whatever ID the customer wants onto one of those backdrops,” 404 Media adds.
“As well as uploading their own photo, users can run through a mass of portraits from OnlyFake’ own archive; these are not AI-generated, the description of a YouTube video advertising the service says. But they still provide an opportunity to create an ID without the fraudster uploading a photo of themselves,” the publication reports.
While the images are far less useful than a physical fake, there can still be many ways to use a realistic enough looking image of a driver’s license or passport online, as 404 Media‘s test shows.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
