Internet fraud has found a home on social media and, with its lax approach to this vice, X has become the go-to platform for crash courses on how to become a fraudster.
On July 26, FIJ published an exposé on several X accounts that publicly shared details on how to forge documents and defraud unsuspecting people online.
Some of these accounts employed misinformation tactics, such as impersonation and deception, to capitalise on their victims’ trust, hopes and gullibility in an attempt to defraud them.
FIJ has now found that some fraudsters use publicly accessible websites to create illusions that can be used to aid their scams.
One such page is @plutochief (archived here). With over 3,200 followers gained in one year, the page enjoys a relatively average following.
The individual behind @plutochief describes himself in his short biography as a “tech expert…king of remote jobs, and survey lord”.
Meanwhile, pinned to his page is a picture and a message (archived here) to ‘Working Boys’. This is a term used to describe fraudsters in Nigeria.
In the image, there are links to Nudify victims, generate fake flight tickets, IDs, social security numbers, receipts, addresses and even ‘fake news’.
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FIJ visited some of these websites to establish that they did what the X user claimed.
FIJ found that Nudefusion, one of the websites, processes pictures and uses artificial intelligence to strip clothes off selected areas, and then replaces the area with an unclad body that matches the skin tone of the subject, thereby creating the illusion of nudity.
On April 30, the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) shared an X post about curbing the spread of nudify apps. This post read, “‘Nudify’ apps use AI to remove clothing from photos, often without consent. What risks do these tools pose to minors, and how can we effectively address them?”
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Reacting to this, the US Secret Service wrote, “AI nudify apps can create fake, harmful images of minors without consent, leading to bullying, blackmail and trauma. We must teach digital respect, report abuse quickly and push for stronger laws to protect young people.”
Two days later, the BBC published a report detailing how its earlier report led to Apple deleting AI nudify apps from its App Store.
Blackmail with nude pictures is a popular internet crime. FIJ has earlier reported how blackmailers sell nude pictures of girls via Telegram.
Nigeria’s Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention) Act, 2015 (Amended in 2024) already criminalises cybercrime in its various forms. Section 14 of the Act criminalises various forms of cyber fraud, including unauthorised data manipulation, fraudulent electronic messages and misrepresentation with intent to defraud. Penalties range from three to seven years imprisonment and fines between N5 million and N10 million. Additionally, offenders who cause financial loss to banks or customers must serve prison time and also refund the stolen funds or forfeit equivalent property.
X’s policy does not frown at the dissemination of such information on its platform, and while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has told FIJ that it is familiar with these fraud promotions, the crime still persists.
The post Cybercriminals Freely Advertise Websites to Nudify Women, Aid Fraud on X appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.