The fake-photo checklist

AI image generators get better monthly, but they still fail in predictable ways. Run any suspicious photo through these seven checks.

The seven signs 🔍

1. Hands & fingers. Count them. Look for extra fingers, fingernails facing wrong directions, hands holding nothing, or hands merging into objects.
2. Text in the background. Signs, book spines, T-shirt slogans, phone screens. AI produces "melted" letters — almost-right shapes that aren't readable words.
3. Teeth and ears. Too-perfect, too-uniform teeth. Ears that don't match between people or look waxy/asymmetric.
4. Jewelry & glasses. Earrings at different heights, glasses arms that vanish into hair, chains that pass through clothing.
5. Background logic. Doors that open onto walls, staircases going nowhere, shadows pointing different directions, reflections that don't match.
6. Skin texture. Plastic-smooth skin with no pores, or an odd "airbrushed glow" — especially combined with perfect lighting.
7. Context check. Reverse-image-search it. On a computer: Google Lens (images.google.com) or TinEye. On iPhone: open the photo in Safari or Photos, tap the share icon → "Search up with Google Lens." On Android: long-press the image in Chrome → "Search image with Google Lens." Real viral photos have history; freshly generated ones have none.

High-stakes rule

When money or reputation is involved

A photo of a celebrity endorsing an investment, a "news" image of a disaster, or a compromising picture of someone you know — treat ALL of these as fake until verified from a second independent source. Deepfake scams rely on the photo being emotionally convincing, not technically perfect.