A viral social media trend encouraging users to upload personal photos and ask AI tools to create caricatures based on their life and job is raising cybersecurity concerns.
The trend, widely shared on Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn, invites people to generate animated versions of themselves using prompts that reference “everything the AI knows” about them. According to Kaspersky, this goes far beyond a simple filter.
To create detailed images, users often share — or allow access to — personal data such as their employer, job title, city, routines, hobbies, and family details. Combined with photos, this information can help criminals build detailed digital profiles and craft highly convincing, personalized scams.
Kaspersky warns that fraud attempts mentioning a person’s workplace or family members are more likely to succeed. The company’s research shows that nearly one in four users in Latin America cannot recognize fake messages, and 27 percent do not review app permissions before installing them.
Experts also caution that AI platforms may store uploaded photos, prompts, and technical data for service improvement or model training, meaning content may remain online longer than users expect.
Cybersecurity firms say they are tracking AI-related scam tactics, raising public awareness, and strengthening tools that detect phishing, malicious links, and identity theft.
Users are advised to avoid sharing identifiable details in AI prompts, refrain from uploading sensitive images, review privacy policies, and use reliable digital security protection.
Experts stress that while the trend may seem harmless, oversharing personal information can significantly increase the risk of targeted fraud.
