Researchers found a network of 400-plus apps and sites posing as pet photo, language and workout tools that secretly made abusive fake images. Here is what to check.
A WIRED investigation found a network of more than 400 connected apps and websites that looked like ordinary tools but hid a second purpose. Under certain conditions, they switched to a hidden screen for making sexually abusive deepfakes, which are fake images or video built from real photos. Some apps were live in the Apple and Google app stores.
The apps claimed to be things like language tutoring, AI workout coaching or AI pet pictures. Each time one was downloaded, it contacted a server with details such as location, language and a unique ID. The server then decided whether to show the harmless version or the explicit one.
There is no clear list of what triggers the explicit version. One trigger appears to be downloading the app after clicking an ad on Facebook or Instagram. Users could upload photos of people and add them to explicit scenes, including violent ones, and pay with in-app credits called diamonds.
The apps began appearing toward the end of 2025, with a spike this spring. At one point, about 30 apps and sites were being registered each week. In September, 27 apps were live on Google Play, with more than 350,000 downloads combined. Many were rated suitable for all ages. One, DiffAI, passed 100,000 downloads.
Researchers found the network after tracing thousands of video ads on Meta. Hundreds of those ads contained AI-generated child sexual abuse material, including images of real children. The ads reached tens of thousands of people and have prompted investigations from regulators around the world.
Anyone who installs apps or taps social media ads could have met one of these. Parents are the most exposed, since many apps carried all-ages ratings. Anyone whose photo is online is also at risk, because the tools worked from uploaded pictures of real people. The reporting covers one network, not every app in the stores.
Google had removed most of the apps before WIRED contacted it, including DiffAI, and did not comment. Apple removed 19 apps, including a pet photo app called Viefur, after WIRED shared the domains. The operation appears tied to Chinese developers and a Hong Kong company, KeLing Technology Limited. Emails to it went unanswered, and public links to the deepfake tools appeared to be erased after contact.
The alert box above lists the steps. The short version is to be choosy about what you install, look at what your children have on their devices, and report abusive apps and ads.
It is not known whether any apps from this network are still available, or how many people used the explicit tools. Researchers say the operator expects enforcement to lag behind. As one researcher put it, "so far it hasn't" caught up. New apps could keep appearing under new names.
An app that looks harmless may not be, so check what you and your kids install and think twice before uploading any photo of a person.
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