A sick social mediia content creator has been shut down after using deep fake technology to present bogus war reports from Ukraine.
Fraudster Used Deepfake Tech To Make Bogus War Reports From Ukraine pic.twitter.com/COnxrbf50z
— NewsX (@newsx_media) June 20, 2023
The shocking footage pretended to show real time updates from the front line of the Russian invasion shot by a self-styled ‘Chechen special forces’ soldier.
But the cruel fakes were actually recorded by a fantasist fraudster in Henan province in central China.
Deepfake tech gave the bogus commando a bushy beard, bald head and a Western appearance as he used the false name Paul Kochatie.
Thousands of followers on Douyin – China’s version of TikTok – were said to have been hoodwinked by his reports for months before he was exposed.
In one, he claims he had been involved in hand-to-hand combat with US Marines as he brandishes what is clearly a toy gun.
And in another, he says he’s been involved in a battle to defend a Ukrainian nuclear power plant.
To keep his Douyin followers fooled, he often changed his appearance and identity uisng artificial intelligence.
Some fans even bought Russian-imported items ranging from vodka to honey from his e-commerce shop.
But as his account gained more followers, suspicion crept up, especially regarding his bizarre Chinese accent.
Other users on Douyin discovered that his IP address indicated he was in Henan and nowhere near Ukraine.
The account has been taken down and is now not permitted to earn money, according to a statement released by Douyin on 17th June.
At its peak, the account had nearly 400,000 followers and had sold hundreds of items through its linked e-commerce store.
The account owner removed all the videos before the ban and changed his name from ‘ Paul Kochatie’.
The name seemed to have been pinched from the character Pavel Korchagin from the Russian socialist novel ‘How the Steel Was Tempered’ by Nikolai Ostrovsky.
Instead, it is now recorded as belonging to Wang Kangmei, which translates to ‘resistance to the United States.’
