Don’t Get Scammed! Tips For Spotting AI-Generated Fake Products Online
This guide is part of a collaboration between Bellingcat and Evident on detecting AI-generated products. You can watch Evident’s video here.
Sipping coffee from a mug carved from mineral rock, its surface glimmering with amethyst, rose quartz and other crystals, sounds almost too magical to be real.
And unfortunately, as some shoppers discovered, it was.
Ads for crystal coffee cups, like the one shown in the Facebook post below, have appeared across the internet. The artisan mugs, available in color variations like blue, green and pink, were being sold on a swathe of platforms ranging from independent Facebook pages to large retailers including Amazon. However, when customers received these mugs, they were in for a surprise.
In the comment section of this Facebook post, users shared images of the mugs they had bought, which bore little resemblance to the fantastical images in the listing.
Major advancements in artificial intelligence in recent years have made it harder to differentiate between what’s real or fake, not just when it comes to photos and videos of people, but also in product listings.
There has also been an increase in AI-generated books being sold on platforms including Amazon, with some even showing up in libraries without any disclosure that they are AI-generated.
But AI is not perfect, and if you look closely, you can often detect several tell-tale signs of a fake. In this guide, we walk you through some questions that savvy shoppers can ask to identify “red flags”, using just critical thinking and basic investigative tools such as reverse image searches.
Does the Image Make Sense?
Many AI-generated images have some sort of “sheen” or look to them that can set off alarm bells.
Take this image of one of the “crystal coffee mugs”. At first glance, it looks like a beautiful mug. But if you look closer, you might notice defects in the image.
There are multiple areas on this mug where the lines of the “crystal” do not align. These broken or inconsistent lines are red flags. There also appears to be some sort of defect in the centre of the mug that resembles a smudge from digital painting, rather than a natural flaw in rock or crystal. The blurriness of the smudge is a feature often seen in AI-generated images. And at the top of the rim, a section of the mug begins to fade out and disappear, suggesting the image has been manipulated.
It is also useful to think about how this product would work in practice. For example, the mug shown in the picture below appears to be made of some sort of lava-type stone, with glowing red light emanating from the cracks. The lighting on the mug appears to be artificial and since there are no visible wires, it would probably need a battery to power it. However, the listing does not specify whether a power source is required or included, which should raise suspicions that the image could be AI-generated.
Are There Multiple Angles and Pictures of the Product?
AI image generators can create convincing images, but they are not great at producing the same image consistently. Authentic listings will often show the same item from multiple angles so customers can see what the object looks like before purchasing. If you only see one photo of the item, that is a red flag that the listing may be using an AI-generated image. Sellers will often take one amazing photo and place the object in multiple “scenes” but you may notice that they don’t show any other angle of the item.
Where there are multiple photos of the product, it is also worth considering whether it looks like the same product in all of the pictures. In the below Etsy listing for a crocheted Highland cow pattern, for example, there are multiple photos of crocheted Highland cows, but they are not consistently the same pattern or design.
Given that this listing is supposed to be for a pattern – a template which crocheters can follow to create the product shown – it’s suspicious that there are different colours, shapes and materials used in these photos. It may mean that these images were created by an image generator that was not able to replicate the exact same stuffed cow.
You can also focus on differences in small details, like the placement of the nostril holes, between the photos or even sometimes in the same photo. For example, in the very first image of this listing, the two nostril holes are slightly different shapes. In the subsequent images, there are slight variations in how these nostril holes are depicted on the cows. The shape of the horn, body, hooves, and the scarf, all have variations between the images.
The image also does not make sense as, if you’re familiar with crochet, you may notice that the hairs shown on the head, body and legs of some of these sample stuffed cows do not match the texture of the type of yarn typically used for crochet. In one of the seller’s replies to customer complaints, they even confirmed that these images were AI-generated.
Bonus Tip: Zooming In On Eyes
One useful hint for identifying an AI-generated image of a human face is to look at the reflective light in the eyes of the people shown and see if there are any abnormal patterns. The same principles may also be applied to images of animals or products such as this Highland cow, where there are shiny surfaces that reflect light.
In real photos, the shape of the light being reflected in the eyes is typically identical or nearly identical if they are facing the same direction. But AI-image generators have not perfected this feature. In some of the pictures of the stuffed cow’s eyes, the shape of the light differs. Since the stuffed toy depicted is facing forward, the light in both eyes should be the same as they should be reflecting back the same light source.
However, as you can see from the photos below, they are different – another indicator that these images are AI-generated.
Have You Thoroughly Read the Listing?
To protect themselves from being accused of misrepresentation or having their listings taken down by platforms, some sellers may hide disclosures within text or images – relying on the assumption that buyers may not closely read the details of their listings. If called out, they may then claim that the images were only for illustration.
To avoid falling prey to such tactics, look out for specific product details including the materials and dimensions, and whether the seller discloses that they are using AI-generated photos. Sellers may include these details within the descriptions to indicate that the item will be different to what is depicted in the listing’s image.
In the case of the mugs, some listings state that the product is a “crystal-like” or “mineral-inspired” design, indicating that it is made from another type of material.
In another example, these cute animal-themed ornaments look three-dimensional and hyper-realistic in their eBay listing. However, if you look at the full listing title, the seller specifies that the ornament is two-dimensional – in other words, flat.
In one post on Reddit, a user said they purchased animal ornaments that looked similar to those in this listing. Based on their post, the ornaments they received were flat acrylic discs with images printed on them. If – as in the listing we saw – the seller indicated this in some way in the title or description, buyers who purchased the ornaments based on the AI-generated images alone may find it harder to seek recourse.
Scammers rely on people making impulse purchases. Being consistent in reading the details can protect you from these surprises.
Are There Pictures Posted by Buyers?
Fake reviews can occur on just about any platform, not just retail websites. There are whole networks dedicated to creating fake reviews, so we cannot just rely on positive customer feedback to determine if a product is trustworthy to purchase.
However, it takes more effort to create a fake review that includes images of the product.
In addition to reading the text reviews, look to see if anyone has posted photos of the item in question, and compare how it looks to the item shown in the listing. Are these photos just taken from the listing? Do they look like they’re showing the same item? Does the background or setting look like someone’s home?
If the item is on a platform that does not have reviews, or seems to be a newly listed item without many reviews, you can try doing a reverse image search of the item. Some sellers will take down a listing when they start getting negative reviews, and then relist the item again. Reverse image searches may pick up archived versions of these older listings, where you might be able to find negative user reviews. You may even find multiple sellers listing the same item and see negative reviews for the product from another seller.
If the same product is being sold elsewhere, check the photos and customer reviews. If you cannot find any photos of the item other than those supplied by the seller, you may want to investigate further.
Is It Too Good to Be True?
Many of us often search for the cheapest items online, looking to get the most bang for our buck, but it is also important to be alert to deals that seem too good to be real.
It is always good practice to compare prices. Is there a difference of a few dollars, or a few hundred? Should a highly intricate sweater be this cheap?
Reverse image searches can also be a good tool to use here. If there is a drastic difference in cost on listings showing similar products, this should give you pause. While there may be legitimate reasons for such price differences, such as the country of origin or bulk buying by sellers, this could also indicate the lower priced listings are a scam.
For example, the below stained glass lamp in the shape of a cat is sold on Walmart, Amazon, and eBay, among others, for under US$23.
An online search for other stained glass lamps returns listings of lamps in more simple domed shapes that cost at least a hundred US dollars – significantly more than the cat-shaped ones that could be more costly to produce because of their intricacy.
Additionally, a Google search for cat-related stained glass lamps returned images of lamps in simpler, boxy shapes. Other than the images that matched the cat lamp above, the rest of the results were all listed at a significantly higher price point than US$25. From this search, it appears that not only is the price point too low but that even the design and shape of the cat lamp is not representative of other lamps available on the market.
While it’s possible that an item that looks somewhat similar may have a large price difference due to branding or geographical origin, this discrepancy is a potential red flag that you might want to investigate further to see if this is a real deal or a scam.
In this case, a reverse image search of this lamp showed that some customers who ordered it received a cheap plastic item with airbrushed paint rather than stained glass, and nothing at all close to the object in the listing.
Who Is Behind This Item?
Finally, it’s always helpful to look beyond the listing and consider who is profiting from the purchase.
Is this a name-brand item, or does it appear to be some mysterious seller that has popped up overnight? Does this seller have a website, or do they only exist on Facebook or Amazon? Is the seller’s account brand new? If they sell other items, what do the customer reviews say? Is the seller using an AI-generated image as their profile picture?
If it is a book you are purchasing, look to see who the author is. Does this person exist? Is there a legitimate publisher of the book, or is it just through Amazon’s self-publishing? While self-publishing does not automatically mean a book is untrustworthy, this process has fewer checks and balances compared with books from publishers, which usually go through a review before being released.
Doing an online search on the author should reveal other information about them. If they are real, does it appear that this book was authored by them? Do they promote it on other platforms? Could someone else be using their name without permission?
For example, the cookbook shown below lists the author as “Ethan Neulife”. Their bio on Amazon describes an “experienced author” but a search of his name did not turn up anything except cached listings on Amazon’s various online marketplaces for this book, which are no longer accessible. There were no social media profiles or personal sites under this name, articles about his books or any contact information available online.
A reverse image search of the profile picture using several different search engines did not return any exact matches except those on Amazon. However, it did suggest stock images that were marked as AI-generated.
For example, one of the suggested results came from a website that specialises in AI-generated stock imagery, FreePik. The image titled “Portrait of Businessman on White Background”, generated using Midjourney 6, bore a striking resemblance to the profile photo of “Ethan Neulife”.
A reverse image search of a profile picture that returns results from AI-image websites may indicate that the image you are searching for is also AI-generated.
These kinds of checks can be done before purchase to ensure that the book or product you are buying comes from a legitimate company or person. There are, of course, always small businesses or individuals vigilant about online privacy who may not have much information about themselves online, but if in doubt, it is a good idea to do some basic online research on the seller to get a sense if they are legitimate or a potential scammer.
Bellingcat is a non-profit and the ability to carry out our work is dependent on the kind support of individual donors. If you would like to support our work, you can do so here. You can also subscribe to our Patreon channel here. Subscribe to our Newsletter and follow us on Twitter here and Mastodon here.
