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The app they used is called Clothoff and is one of the most well-known deepfake porn apps in the world. As legislation to deal with crimes committed using artificial intelligence is still in its infancy, actors who wanted to put an end to the creation of such content “chased the money”.<\/p>\n\n\n
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As it turns out, Clothoff is part of a sophisticated and extensive network of AI applications used to create deepfake porn that victimizes millions of unsuspecting citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n
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“Clothoff, DrawNudes, Nudify and Undress allow users to ‘undress’ photos of any woman, creating non-consensual images of them. In doing so, they have racked up tens of millions of site visits over the past four months. In the dozens of Telegram groups we found created by these sites, some had as many as 800,000 followers,\u201d said a report by Bellingcat (“Behind a Secretive Global Network of Non-Consensual Deepfake Pornography<\/a>“), the independent open-source research organization, published in late February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bellingcat’s investigation proved that the four apps belong to the same network and use the same methods to collect money from users who want to access their tools anonymously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Clothoff and DrawNudes collect payments through third-party websites that are not traditional payment processors, concealing the true nature of transactions and violating the websites’ terms,” the investigation explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMore specifically, they used several gaming-related websites, including a lesser-known website called Skinsback and the popular gaming marketplace G2A. In these cases, they pretend to sell and trade video game-related content but, in reality, receive payments for ‘coins’ that can be redeemed to create pornographic deepfakes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n While trading through Skinsback was done by purchasing gaming content, trading in G2A involves real money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clothoff has 24\/7 so-called “dealers” or sellers to chat with people who want to buy tokens to create pornographic deepfakes. Dealers direct prospective customers to secret payments through G2A. Specifically they encourage them to buy gaming keys from a reseller account at G2A with the promise that the keys are exchanged for coins in their Clothoff account. They also provide links to accounts that are not publicly advertised.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the options is payment with cryptocurrencies. \u201cThe process is quite complex, with a variety of different payment options depending on the visitor’s IP address and country of origin\u2026 By decentralizing payment systems, the money path is well hidden and provides multiple layers of protection from both payment processing companies whose Terms of Service they violate as well as by the authorities,” the report states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After Bellingcat’s investigation was published both G2A and Skinsback closed the accounts in question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 550% increase in deepfake porn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The investigations of both Bellingcat and the British newspaper Guardian showed that the tentacles of the network reach many different countries of the world: Belarus, Russia, Spain, USA, Australia are some of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These applications make thousands of sales every day by baiting the ease of use and the very low cost of the tools they offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Guardian’s investigation showed that for \u00a330 someone can create 25 deepfake photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bellingcat’s research found that just one of the network’s dozens of accounts made about 200 sales of non-consensual photos in one week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clothoff is looking to hire more “dealers” to meet the increased demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/image-93.png\")