Others' photos used to gather likes, privacy violated under the guise of humor

Three individuals are seen in a selfie. The caption of the photo claims that a woman is having dinner together with her husband and her ex-partner. While accepting the story in the post as true, some users are also making various negative comments about the individuals in the attached photo.

The story is fictional, but the people in the photos are not. Rather, such fabricated stories are being told using photos taken from their personal profiles. The people whose photos are being used do not even know where and in what context their images are being used.

Dismislab contacted several victims regarding this matter. Upon learning that their personal photos are being published after being edited in different contexts, they expressed concern for their safety. They also stated that they are facing various social questions.

On April 21, a photo was posted from a Facebook page. One part of the caption of this post read, “Husband, ex, and my dinner! In the photo, you can see my only beloved husband Sohan (wearing a black jersey), how happy he is to see us together! On the other hand, my ex Arafat came straight from the office in his formal clothes!” (spelling unchanged).

The photo in the post shows two men and one woman sitting at a table, with food arranged on the table. The woman is taking a selfie.

To verify the source, Dismislab conducted a reverse image search of the photo. While searching for clues, it was found that the photo had been posted from a personal profile on April 18. The profile from which the photo was posted belongs to the individual and their colleagues. The caption of that post also mentioned spending time with colleagues.

Up until the writing of this report, the circulated photo has been shared more than two and a half thousand times and has received over 15,000 reactions. Comparing the circulated photo with the photo from the personal profile, several inconsistencies are observed. There are mismatches in the faces, clothing styles, and colors of the three people between the photo posted from the personal profile and the circulated photo. However, other surrounding objects, the table, food, and the individuals’ shoes are identical. To verify whether the circulated photo was edited with artificial intelligence, it was tested in a specialized identification tool based on Google’s “SynthID” technology. The test showed that most parts of the image have the potential to have been created with SynthID.

That is to say, a photo from a personal profile was edited with the help of artificial intelligence and posted with a different caption. The circulated photo has been shared from multiple (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) Facebook profiles, pages, and groups. Assuming the caption to be true, many have shared the post by adding negative captions.

Dismislab monitored the page named “Doctor Rubel Malaysia.” Throughout the month of April, multiple posts were made from this page using photos from various personal profiles. The first such post was made on April 18. The photo in this post shows a man holding a female child in his lap. The caption stated, “The one you see in my lap, the fruit of my wife’s extramarital affair, is my daughter. But she is not my biological daughter. This child is the fruit of the union between my former wife and her ex-boyfriend.” At the end of the caption, it was written, “(Based on a real incident. The attached photo was provided with the patient’s permission. I would be very happy if you give a follow to my newly opened page)” (verbatim).

Searching for the actual source of the photo in the post, it was found that the exact same photo was taken from someone’s personal profile, which had been posted on April 17. Verification of the profile showed that multiple photos of the same child were posted from that profile as their own child. No editing was done when posting this photo from the “Doctor Rubel Malaysia” page. The child’s face was not covered either.

Another such post was made where a photo was posted with an irrelevant caption without any changes to the image. In this post, using a woman’s photo, it was written, “Took a new assistant. She showed a nursing certificate; I understood it was a fake certificate just by looking at it.” A reverse image search of this photo showed that it was actually taken from a doctor’s personal profile.

Use of edited photos

The first instance of posting edited photos from this page was seen on April 19. Posting a photo of two men and one woman, one part of the caption read, “Celebrating birthday with wife’s ex. The one seen standing with Razia in the photo is me, Riaz. The other boy wearing glasses, at whom Razia is looking with a steadfast gaze, is my wife’s ex—Shamim.”

A reverse image search of this photo led to a photo posted in a group named “Coffee House.” There, the individual wearing glasses, who was called Shamim in the caption of the circulated photo, identified himself as “Mohammad Emon Ahmed.” In that photo, the woman and the other individual are not with him. To verify whether the circulated photo was edited with artificial intelligence, it was tested in a specialized identification tool based on Google’s “SynthID” technology. The test showed that SynthID watermarks were found in most parts of the photo. That is to say, it was edited using Google’s AI model.

Several such (1, 2) photos have been posted from the page after being partially edited. Posts are being made by collecting personal photos from other personal profiles along with irrelevant captions. An analysis of the comments on the posts shows that many have accepted the posts as true, while many others expressed doubt and wanted to know if the incidents were real.

What victims are saying

Dismislab contacted the profiles of those whose personal photos were used in posts from the “Doctor Rubel Malaysia” page. One victim, expressing concern over the violation of their privacy, said, “Because my photo is attached to such an unrealistic caption, I am facing various questions socially.” When asked if they had any objection to their personal photos being used this way, another victim said, “Of course I have an objection. My young child’s photo is being used without my permission; besides, the caption is also misleading.” Another victim stated they were embarrassed to see their photo being used in this manner.

The victims sought advice from Dismislab on what the next step should be and how these posts can be removed from Facebook.

Doctor Rubel Malaysia page

This page was created on August 10, 2023. In the “About” section of the page, it is described as satire or parody. In some places on the page, the location is written as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, while in other places, it is written as Dhaka, Bangladesh. When the page was contacted to ask about the purpose of making such posts or whether the privacy of others is being violated by posting their personal photos, the page responded, “All photos are created with AI.” When it was pointed out that several photos posted on the page were not created with AI, no further response came from the page.

In a research titled “Research on the Impact of Social Media on People’s Privacy and its Countermeasures” done by Xiaoge Zhang, an assistant professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, it is stated that the use of social media can create risks of privacy violation and misuse of information, which also impacts an individual’s reputation and mental health. The misuse and disclosure of personal privacy in a digital society not only has broad social and economic impacts but also reflects the vulnerable state of personal information in modern society. Regarding the misuse of personal information, the research states, “This misuse is not only a threat to personal security but also a flagrant violation of an individual’s personal autonomy or freedom.”

The original version of this fact-check report was published in Bengali on Dismislab’s Bengali website on May 3, 2026. The English translation was completed later; however, to maintain time accuracy and avoid any potential misinterpretation, the English version has been published with the original publication date.