Deepfakes Almost Ruined My Life: Never Trust What You See or Hear on the Internet

It Happened to Me, It Could Happen to You Too

“Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically….”

On a Saturday afternoon in December of 2020, I was finishing up with a Zoom call when I received a DM on Instagram from an unknown account. I glanced at my phone, thinking it was just spam, but what I saw made my heart race. The message contained a photo of what appeared to be my face photoshopped onto a naked person’s body. The image looked disturbingly real.

Everything faded into the background as I stared at the message. Along with the photo was a link to an adult content forum where dozens of images with my likeness were being posted and discussed. I noticed that this had been out there for several weeks. I completely froze, not knowing what to say or do. I saw what looked like my face in these photos, but I knew it wasn’t me. It couldn’t be me. It looked somewhat similar to me, but was it me? I started asking myself. How could this be me? More importantly, who was this person and why did they send this to me? Was it someone I knew? How did they get my Instagram ID?

The Blackmail Begins

While I was looking through this forum and asking myself all these questions, I received another message. This time it was blackmail. Here’s what the messages read:

“this you? [with a photo attached]”

The next line contained the address of the university I was attending.

Followed by:

“Send me some custom videos of you or I will post all details on the internet with your family pictures”

And of course, they sent me the family pictures they were referring to.

This person had clearly done some research on me before messaging me.

The Emotional Toll

I wanted to believe it was just a cruel joke, or even a case of mistaken identity, but the realism of the images and the invasive nature of the messages made me feel violated and scared. I felt an overwhelming urge to find out who was behind this and why they were targeting me. My mind raced with questions. I looked around my empty room, hearing my family from afar, oblivious to the storm brewing inside me. Should I tell them? Should I call the police? I felt a wave of nausea and my hands started to tremble.

Taking Action

I finally decided to call the police on the non-emergency line to report what was happening to me and to see if there was anything they could do. When an officer answered the phone, the conversation went as I expected — filled with confusion and misunderstanding.

After giving my statement, the investigator had told me it was a serious threat because they had my name and address. He had asked me if I wanted to press charges if they find out who this person is. After inquiring more about what going that route might entail, I told him I would think about it because I wasn’t really even sure if this person was in the same state or even country as I was in.

The Aftermath

It took several days before I received another message, from yet another phone number, with a video. A video with what sounded like my voice saying things that I had never said before.

I had seen several videos this individual was sending me and remembered seeing similar things being done to celebrities. Their voices were cloned, making it sound like they were saying things they had never actually said. I never thought something like this could happen to me. I wasn’t famous; I didn’t have many videos online — apart from the ones that were stolen from my computer and floating somewhere on the internet.

Conclusion

Deepfakes can generally be categorized into two types: benign and malicious. Benign deepfakes, like those of Tom Cruise or other celebrities, often serve as showcases of technological prowess or entertainment. However, the more malicious deepfakes are those that intended to deceive or manipulate.

I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that what happened to me could happen to anyone, and I realized that I’m not uniquely vulnerable. Several friends, to whom I’ve told this story, felt strongly that if some of the images hadn’t been so convincing, or if they hadn’t exploited specific stereotypes related to my ethnicity, the impact might have been less devastating or I would have assumed it to be a case of mistaken identity. Either way, I have to accept that someone used powerful technology to wage psychological warfare on me, and I lost a part of my peace of mind. For now, I just keep fighting back with my truth, refusing to be silenced and stereotyped.