This week, a sibling turned to Reddit for advice when their 16-year-old sister fell in love online. The man behind the messages appeared to be using a fake, AI-generated image as his profile picture to hide their true identity.
The post was shared on the subreddit r/isthisAI and included the profile picture the unknown man had used to contact the teenager. The original poster said they were the girl's older sibling and that they suspected the image was fake. The sibling said they needed proof to convince her the image was fake.
"She doesn't believe me," the user wrote. "This guy [is] probably really just an old fat guy eating Cheetos at his computer in his mom's basement." The post amassed more than 800 comments, where many Reddit users identified the image's telltale signs of being AI-generated.
Commenters pointed to the following major issues:
- Unusual hairline that begins in the middle of the subject's forehead
- An oddly thick neck relative to head size
- A bracelet that dissolved into a blob near the clasp
- A necklace that "[defies] physics by melting away" on one side
One user even did a reverse image search of the photo and confirmed that it led to another clearly AI-generated image of the same "person," this time with a different smile.
Others flagged how the image looked suspiciously professional. "What teenage boy is getting his photos professionally taken like this?" wrote a user. The background blur (or bokeh) is also not usually seen in photos taken by a typical smartphone camera. Another user explained that often, AI image generators can't produce a consistent vanishing point, which can be seen in perspective lines in the background.
Beyond identifying the fake image, many commenters raised child safety concerns. A user urged the poster to focus less on convincing their sister that the person was AI and more on the fact that she doesn't share photos of herself or send money. Another user said that AI tools have "turbocharged" efforts of this sort to obtain illicit images from minors for criminal use. The commenter recommended asking anyone who seems suspicious to wave a hand in front of their face on a live video call. Why? As of now, real-time AI video manipulation cannot reliably fake that motion, though that skill may not be far off. "Make sure that she knows that shame should never prevent her from coming to you if she's in a scary situation," a third user wrote.
Getting accused of being AI has been an everyday thing for me recently, so here's how to spot an AI model in one minute⬇️
— Tinsley? (@its_tinsley) May 20, 2026
The original poster later shared an update, saying that after being shown all the proof gathered in the thread, she acknowledged the profile was fake. The poster said they then confronted the individual, but they initially denied using a fabricated image. Soon enough, they admitted it, and their account was blocked and reported.
The poster wrote in a final edit: "I think, personally, 'love' blinded her — she's 16, she doesn't know what love is. My parents took away her phone."
The FBI has also warned that AI-generated images are increasingly being used in online scams targeting minors. The agency says anyone who suspects a fake account should report the profile to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at CyberTipline.org.
