OnlyFakes?
TikTok is running ads promoting an AI app that claims you can use it to deepfake yourself into someone else to create an OnlyFans account for money. (That’s a mouthful, sorry.)
In multiple versions of the AI catfishing ad reviewed by AdTechRadar, a (real?) man appears to use AI to transform himself into what is presented as an AI-generated woman. The ads show the AI-generated woman alongside the OnlyFans logo, followed by bank statements displaying large deposits. The implication is that the AI-generated persona can then be used to attract subscribers on OnlyFans.
Here are some examples:
It’s unclear whether the transformations shown in the ads were actually created using the promoted app or if they were produced with actors, or some other form of video-editing. Either way, the message is the same: use AI to create a fake identity for financial gain.
Why This Matters:
The ads are notable because they’re not simply promoting (if somewhat distasteful) face-swapping, like deepfaking a friend into a dancing video, which is common on TikTok. Instead, they’re explicitly advertising a use case centered on impersonation and deception to make money.
So, is this a scam ad? Not exactly. Platforms, most notably Meta, have faced growing criticism over scam ads and deceptive AI-generated content. While these ads aren’t necessarily scams themselves, they do promote behavior that could be used to scam others elsewhere. That’s concerning, obviously.
The ads also raise more questions about TikTok’s ad review process, which has been under scrutiny lately. Just today, for example, The Wall Street Journal published a story about AI-generated marketing/videos tied to TikTok Shop.
Experts React:
Copyleaks, an AI content detection platform that has published research on TikTok AI scam ads, wrote the following in a recent blog post about TikTok ads featuring deepfakes of Taylor Swift:
“AI is only accelerating the problem, with deepfaked celebrities and influencers adding a false sense of credibility to scam ads in ways that simply didn’t exist a year ago.”
Celebrities or not, AI is making it easier to create fake identities that convince people to hand over their data or money. That’s the underlying issue here.
Our Take:
Would this actually work on OnlyFans? Probably not. The platform seems to have strict standards in place for identity verification, both for creators and subscribers. But that’s not really the point. Even if this doesn’t work, the ad may still achieve its goal by getting people to download the app for the purposes in the ad.
A bigger question here (potentially) is whether platforms should accept ads that explicitly encourage AI-powered impersonation for financial gain. Or maybe at all? As these tools improve, that question is only going to become harder to avoid.
