50-Year-Old Man Uses FaceApp to Pose as a Young Female Biker for Internet Fame

Lee Mercado, Tech Times 18 March 2021, 11:03 am

A young Japanese female biker fooled thousands on social media after the revelation that she is actually a 50-year-old man.

Thanks to the AI photo editing software called FaceApp, the man named Zonggu made himself appear like a beautiful young woman because he thought no one wanted to see an old uncle.

He was able to gain a following of almost 18,000 under the Twitter handle @azusagakuyuki, as he posted life updates with pictures posing with Yamaha bikes while wearing a motorcycle jacket.

Zonggu Uses FaceApp to Pose as a Female Biker

(Photo : Screengrab from Nippon Television Network System)

The Surprising Reveal

While some of his followers thought that the pretty girl they are following is simply editing her photos to make herself more beautiful, some eagle-eyed followers began noticing irregularities in the photos.

Also Read: Best iPhone Editing, Camera Apps 2020: How to Level Up Your iPhone Photography Game

One example is a photo where fans noticed a "masculine-looking, hairy" arm that does not seem to match her face.

#タイムラインをTZRで埋めよう pic.twitter.com/Nl9RCSszTD
— 宗谷の蒼氷 (@azusagakuyuki) March 13, 2021

To put an end to the mystery, a Japanese entertainment TV show tracked down the Twitter feed creator. The show discovered Zonggu was behind the pictures all along when he pulled his bike helmet to reveal himself.

Zonggu admitted that he enjoyed the feeling of being an "online celebirty." People may think that uncovering his ruse would have a devastating effect on his popularity, but that is not the case for Zonggu.

According to DailyMail, His identity unveiling is what made him truly viral, with thousands of people admitting to being impressed with his talent. While some remarked that their trust issues might have been "upgraded," others praised his work as "the best catfish ever."

FaceApp's Gender Swap Controversy

First launched in 2017, FaceApp took the world by storm because it uses AI to make a user look old or young with surprising accuracy and precision.

Several security researchers believe the app poses a security risk, but that did not stop users from uploading pictures to let the AI algorithm work its magic.

The concerns raised include the user's privacy and the capability of the AI to learn the user's patterns for facial recognition.

WCCFTech reported that users should be afraid of the app's privacy policy, which are as follows:

Videos are edited locally on your device, so you don't provide us with videos when you use the App, and we don't collect, use and share your video information.
We do not use the photographs you provide when you use the App for any reason other than to provide you with the portrait editing functionality of the App.

The aforementioned lines seemed more than enough to convince users that the app is safe, but WCCFTech warned people to be wary of what the app is really storing and using.

Whether or not the app poses a security threat is still unknown, but the report reminded users that in December 2019, the FBI issued a warning about the app's safety.

A warning to share with your family & friends:

This year when millions were downloading #FaceApp, I asked the FBI if the app was safe.

Well, the FBI just responded.

And they told me any app or product developed in Russia like FaceApp is a potential counterintelligence threat. pic.twitter.com/ioMzpp2Xi5
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) December 2, 2019