The ‘deepfake’ website, OnlyFake, is enabling the generation of nearly 20,000 counterfeit and lifelike passports and identification cards every day using Artificial Intelligence (AI). These documents are so convincing that they can deceive the verification systems of online platforms for buying and selling cryptocurrencies.
In recent times, AI has witnessed a significant surge, with its applications ranging from scrutinizing and eliminating bogus reviews on eCommerce sites to creating realistic images and texts that mimic human thought processes.
However, this technology’s popularity has also caught the attention of cybercriminals. They are leveraging it to launch malicious campaigns such as the mass production of ‘deepfake’ images and ensnaring victims in scams through fraudulent video calls.
The techniques these cybercriminals use to forge documents are incredibly advanced. They can generate realistic photographs of false identity documents, including passports and driving licenses. This was reported by the 404 Media portal.
These cybercriminals have been so successful in their endeavours that they have managed to produce counterfeit identification documents from as many as 26 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and several European Union nations. These fake documents have been used to perform cryptocurrency transactions through commercial payment services like Coinbase, Binance, Huobi, and OKX, among others.
This has been feasible because these fake identity documents have been able to evade the verification system that these platforms use, known as ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC). This technique is used to authenticate client identities and ensure they meet the legal and regulatory requirements of a given country.
This was verified by 404 Media, who created a counterfeit California (United States) driver’s license and used it on a cryptocurrency exchange website, OKX. They were successful in passing it off as a legitimate document.
To produce this fake documentation, 404 Media provided OnlyFake with arbitrary user information such as full name, expiration date, vehicle registration number, eye color, weight, hair color, date of birth, address, and signature.
According to 404 Media, one of the most persuasive elements of OnlyFake’s forgery method is its ability to simulate a document image against a realistic background, which can create the illusion that it has been photographed on a rug or sheet of paper.
OnlyFake stated via its Telegram account that “the era of creating documents using Photoshop is nearing its end.” It uses “neural networks” to generate up to 20,000 documents daily. It also claims to be capable of creating multiple counterfeit identity documents simultaneously if it is supplied with the necessary information, such as through an Excel document.
