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This Proxies API service seems to be using AI-generated "This Person Does Not Exist"[1] style profile pictures for its positive customer reviews near the bottom

This Proxies API service seems to be using AI-generated "This Person Does Not Exist"[1] style profile pictures for its positive customer reviews near the bottom of the page: https://www.proxiesapi.com/assets/img/steve.jpg https://www.proxiesapi.com/assets/img/steve.jpg https://www.proxiesapi.com/assets/img/customer1.jpg https://www.proxiesapi.com/assets/img/customer1.jpg https://www.proxiesapi.com/assets/img/customer3.jpg https://www.proxiesapi.com/assets/img/customer3.jpg https://www.proxiesapi.com/assets/img/customer4.jpg https://www.proxiesapi.com/assets/img/customer4.jpg Makes me question if the customer reviews or even the customers themselves are real. [1] https://this-person-does-not-exist.com/ https://this-person-does-not-exist.com/

nmarinov 4y ago
I read the "How to recognize an image of a fake person" section on the site you linked and I'm curious how did you spot that the pictures are fake?
- deelly 4y ago
  Usually eyes are not completely symmetrical.
- SadTrombone 4y ago
  If you see enough of these AI-generated portraits on the Internet you'll start to notice the similarities, especially since This Person Does Not Exist is usually the source for the vast majority of them that I've seen. They're very often used as profile pics by Twitter bots. The way the person's head is framed in the shot is pretty much identical most of the time and kind of a tell on its own. Other tells: - steve.jpg: The skin above the top rim of his glasses has some repetition/distortion. - customer1.jpg: Distortion in the hair, most noticeable at top left. Mouth looks fake too. - customer3.jpg: I didn't notice anything significant, but it just looks like an image taken straight off TPDNE. Do "vibes" count? - customer4.jpg: The teeth merge into each other.
  - nmarinov 4y ago
    Hmm, thanks. To me those look like random compression artefacts or poor photo retouching but I get what you mean and they do all look similar. I guess you can get used to the distortions and the general vibe of the model.
  - have_faith 4y ago
    Another tell is that they often look cropped from a larger image, specifically not from the center. Lenses produce specific distortions towards the edges. It looks like to increase the corpus of images many headshots have been cropped from larger images. This causes the model to learn and replicate these subtle lens effects.
  - locuscoeruleus 4y ago
    > - customer3.jpg: I didn't notice anything significant, but it just looks like an image taken straight off TPDNE. Do "vibes" count? Look at the background, does it make sense? Tell me what the background to the left of hear head is. Look at her earbobs, how often do people wear different ones in each ear? Does the left earbob look like anything?
  - 5560675260 4y ago
    For me a big giveaway on customer3.jpg is earrings - they don't have a real shape and don't match at all.
    - SadTrombone 4y ago
      Good catch.
- pzrsa 4y ago
  I think the image names gives it away more. "customer1.jpg" and "steve.jpg" lol
- arrowsmith 4y ago
  Go to https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/ https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/ and spend a few minutes refreshing the page. There's something distinctive about all these fake faces - I can't explain what it is, but once you've seen enough of them you can recognise the "look" quite easily. Probably the biggest giveaway is that the faces are all positioned identically in each photo, but there's something else that juuuust quite doesn't look real. Maybe some of the faces just seem a little bit more androgynous than anyone I ever see in real life. There's something about them that sits just on the edge of the uncanny valley.
- Tade0 4y ago
  Outside from the odd file names, minor details like ears, glasses, earrings. Our friend Steve has something going on with the left hinge of his glasses. Customer1 has an interesting right ear. Customer3 has very asymmetrical earrings. Customer4 has a bulge where the left earring would normally be, and the right hinge of their glasses is crooked.
phobotics 4y ago
I think this is actually quite common now - where you get permission from a person to use their review of your product but they don't want you to use their likeness. Maybe sometimes it feels a bit much to ask to use someone's review and also ask for a photo of them. It is somewhat disingenuous but I don't think I mind too much if they are legit customer reviews.
- arrowsmith 4y ago
  Try googling the names, job titles and companies of the people who "wrote" these reviews. I can't see any evidence that these people (and in some cases their companies) actually exist. I don't believe that these testimonials are real.
- nmarinov 4y ago
  When compared to a similar site hosted on the same server[1] the reused pictures and reviews are definitely suspicious[2]. [1] https://teracrawler.io/ https://teracrawler.io/ [2] see the Our customers feel it section
  - 00deadbeef 4y ago
    The pricing is very different, could be some kind of test to see how much people are willing to pay
  - gustavorg 4y ago
    Actually teracrawler.io and proxiesapi.com are build by the same person, same page design, same footer design (left column of topics, no privacy and terms policy pages), even is the same chat software with the same customer support operator picture.
    - nmarinov 4y ago
      Sure, that's how I found it, there's links to each other in the menu. I didn't mean to suggest the services themselves are fake, I didn't word it well - just that the pictures and reviews are reused on similar but different services.
lopatin 4y ago
Yeah the reviews on the landing page seem fake. It's the kind of fake it till you make it that doesn't bother me. It's not like he's faking blood tests.
- ramraj07 4y ago
  It’s one thing if Reddit founders post news articles themselves on their free site. It’s another if a saas site has fake reviews.
- quantified 4y ago
  Yeah, you never worry about doing business with an out-and-out liar, of course?
- throwaway4good 4y ago
  Problem is that it makes you question the whole post. Ie does he actually have 100 customers or is it just something he writes because it is well known that people are less likely to buy something no one else is buying.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
oorza 4y ago
I can't find any evidence any of those people, or the companies they purport to represent, actually exist. One thing to slap faces where you don't have any, but straight up making up reviews, people AND the company is actually hilarious
CalRobert 4y ago
Almost every restaurant website uses stock photos as well - "oh this place looks nice" and tineye reveals that indeed the stock photographer made it look nice as well. Logos, customer reviews, etc. are just tricks.

nmarinov 4y ago

I read the "How to recognize an image of a fake person" section on the site you linked and I'm curious how did you spot that the pictures are fake?

deelly 4y ago
Usually eyes are not completely symmetrical.
SadTrombone 4y ago
If you see enough of these AI-generated portraits on the Internet you'll start to notice the similarities, especially since This Person Does Not Exist is usually the source for the vast majority of them that I've seen. They're very often used as profile pics by Twitter bots. The way the person's head is framed in the shot is pretty much identical most of the time and kind of a tell on its own. Other tells: - steve.jpg: The skin above the top rim of his glasses has some repetition/distortion. - customer1.jpg: Distortion in the hair, most noticeable at top left. Mouth looks fake too. - customer3.jpg: I didn't notice anything significant, but it just looks like an image taken straight off TPDNE. Do "vibes" count? - customer4.jpg: The teeth merge into each other.
- nmarinov 4y ago
  Hmm, thanks. To me those look like random compression artefacts or poor photo retouching but I get what you mean and they do all look similar. I guess you can get used to the distortions and the general vibe of the model.
- have_faith 4y ago
  Another tell is that they often look cropped from a larger image, specifically not from the center. Lenses produce specific distortions towards the edges. It looks like to increase the corpus of images many headshots have been cropped from larger images. This causes the model to learn and replicate these subtle lens effects.
- locuscoeruleus 4y ago
  > - customer3.jpg: I didn't notice anything significant, but it just looks like an image taken straight off TPDNE. Do "vibes" count? Look at the background, does it make sense? Tell me what the background to the left of hear head is. Look at her earbobs, how often do people wear different ones in each ear? Does the left earbob look like anything?
- 5560675260 4y ago
  For me a big giveaway on customer3.jpg is earrings - they don't have a real shape and don't match at all.
  - SadTrombone 4y ago
    Good catch.
pzrsa 4y ago
I think the image names gives it away more. "customer1.jpg" and "steve.jpg" lol
arrowsmith 4y ago
Go to https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/ https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/ and spend a few minutes refreshing the page. There's something distinctive about all these fake faces - I can't explain what it is, but once you've seen enough of them you can recognise the "look" quite easily. Probably the biggest giveaway is that the faces are all positioned identically in each photo, but there's something else that juuuust quite doesn't look real. Maybe some of the faces just seem a little bit more androgynous than anyone I ever see in real life. There's something about them that sits just on the edge of the uncanny valley.
Tade0 4y ago
Outside from the odd file names, minor details like ears, glasses, earrings. Our friend Steve has something going on with the left hinge of his glasses. Customer1 has an interesting right ear. Customer3 has very asymmetrical earrings. Customer4 has a bulge where the left earring would normally be, and the right hinge of their glasses is crooked.

phobotics 4y ago

I think this is actually quite common now - where you get permission from a person to use their review of your product but they don't want you to use their likeness. Maybe sometimes it feels a bit much to ask to use someone's review and also ask for a photo of them. It is somewhat disingenuous but I don't think I mind too much if they are legit customer reviews.

arrowsmith 4y ago
Try googling the names, job titles and companies of the people who "wrote" these reviews. I can't see any evidence that these people (and in some cases their companies) actually exist. I don't believe that these testimonials are real.
nmarinov 4y ago
When compared to a similar site hosted on the same server[1] the reused pictures and reviews are definitely suspicious[2]. [1] https://teracrawler.io/ https://teracrawler.io/ [2] see the Our customers feel it section
- 00deadbeef 4y ago
  The pricing is very different, could be some kind of test to see how much people are willing to pay
- gustavorg 4y ago
  Actually teracrawler.io and proxiesapi.com are build by the same person, same page design, same footer design (left column of topics, no privacy and terms policy pages), even is the same chat software with the same customer support operator picture.
  - nmarinov 4y ago
    Sure, that's how I found it, there's links to each other in the menu. I didn't mean to suggest the services themselves are fake, I didn't word it well - just that the pictures and reviews are reused on similar but different services.

lopatin 4y ago

Yeah the reviews on the landing page seem fake. It's the kind of fake it till you make it that doesn't bother me. It's not like he's faking blood tests.

ramraj07 4y ago
It’s one thing if Reddit founders post news articles themselves on their free site. It’s another if a saas site has fake reviews.
quantified 4y ago
Yeah, you never worry about doing business with an out-and-out liar, of course?
throwaway4good 4y ago
Problem is that it makes you question the whole post. Ie does he actually have 100 customers or is it just something he writes because it is well known that people are less likely to buy something no one else is buying.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

oorza 4y ago

I can't find any evidence any of those people, or the companies they purport to represent, actually exist. One thing to slap faces where you don't have any, but straight up making up reviews, people AND the company is actually hilarious

CalRobert 4y ago

Almost every restaurant website uses stock photos as well - "oh this place looks nice" and tineye reveals that indeed the stock photographer made it look nice as well. Logos, customer reviews, etc. are just tricks.