Yuriy Nazarenko, the Ukrainian creator of OnlyFake, an AI-powered underground service that generated realistic fake identity documents, has told his story publicly for the first time. In interviews with 404 Media, the 28-year-old, now free and living in Asia, described how the service grew from one man's Photoshop work into what the Department of Justice said was a $1.2 million operation that produced at least 10,000 fake IDs.
OnlyFake, first revealed by 404 Media in early 2024, let customers generate convincing scans of driver's licenses, passports and Social Security cards for about $15, including photos of the documents lying on a sofa, carpet or desk as if snapped on a phone. The images needed to fool both human reviewers and automated systems that scan them for inconsistencies. The site threatened the know-your-customer checks financial firms rely on.
Nazarenko, who grew up outside Odesa, said he began by editing identity documents pixel by pixel in Photoshop from his grandfather's apartment, sometimes sitting for more than 12 hours at a time, with a single high-quality document taking up to a week. "When you zoom in several hundred percent, you begin to understand how complicated even an ordinary passport or driver's license really is," he said. He built a website to automate the process, then added generative AI, including a bank of AI-generated faces and AI-made backgrounds. "In practice, we started operating much like a normal technology startup, except we were operating in an illegal market," he recalled. He said other criminals were selling fish, while he "was selling the fishing rod."
The site offered subscription plans from a $99-a-month "Light" package with 10 generations to a $1,500 "Ultimate" tier that took uploaded spreadsheets of customer data. Nazarenko said competitors hammered the site with denial-of-service attacks, and the pressure drove him to cocaine, LSD, magic mushrooms and ecstasy. On February 26, 2024, the United Nations wrote to OnlyFake saying North Korean IT workers had used it to generate fake passports and driver's licenses to apply for remote work in the US, sign up for freelance platforms and sign up for payment platforms, and demanded a list of those users and copies of the documents. Nazarenko refused to hand anything over, but said the letter was one of the first moments he realised he was in over his head.
After 404 Media's initial reporting, in which journalist Joseph Cox generated a fake California driver's license and a British passport and used one to open an account on the cryptocurrency exchange OKX, former OKX employees told him the test triggered a wave of changes as the exchange scrambled to make its systems more resilient to AI-generated IDs. OKX did not respond to a request for comment. In May 2024, a law enforcement agent working with federal prosecutors went undercover and bought a fake New York identification card, a US passport card, a New York driver's license, a US passport and a Social Security card, and OnlyFake's customer support explained how to use the documents to bypass exchange checks. Authorities found it trivial to identify who ran the site: when making it and cashing out its proceeds, Nazarenko sent Bitcoin to a cryptocurrency exchange account in his own name.
Nazarenko was arrested on June 13, 2025, at Bucharest airport as he flew to Romania with his girlfriend. After three months in a Romanian prison he was extradited to New York, where gang members assaulted him in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and he was moved to another part of the facility, according to a letter his lawyer later submitted in court. In June this year, about a year after his arrest, a judge sentenced him to time served of 12 months against a maximum of 15 years. Authorities had not identified any specific victims of OnlyFake. His lawyer, Igor Litvak, said Nazarenko had offered to cooperate, including by providing customer information, but prosecutors did not take up the offer. The site kept running for much of his time in prison, Litvak said. As Nazarenko prepared to leave court, US immigration officials detained him for two more months, which he described as "much, MUCH worse than prison." He was deported on August 17.
Nazarenko told 404 Media the experience taught him "what can happen when the scale of something grows faster than your understanding of its consequences." He said he had hidden behind the idea that clients decided how to use the service rather than facing the real picture. "I was building something that could be used to harm people, and I was making money from it. I did not fully understand that until I was sitting inside a concrete cell," he said.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- OnlyFake showed that convincing identity fraud no longer requires a skilled forger: for about $15 anyone could generate a fake ID and use it to open accounts or bypass checks at cryptocurrency exchanges.
- The threat was demonstrated in practice when a 404 Media reporter used a generated ID to open an account on OKX, prompting the exchange to scramble its verification systems.
- The case also linked commercial fraud services to state-level activity, with the UN reporting that North Korean IT workers used OnlyFake to obtain remote work in the US.
Background
OnlyFake began as one man's manual Photoshop work and grew into an automated service with subscription tiers and customer support, described by its founder as a technology startup operating in an illegal market. When 404 Media revealed it in early 2024, the site became a landmark example of how generative AI could produce convincing identity documents at scale, and it soon spawned copycats. The case illustrates the challenge AI-generated documents pose to KYC identity checks, which assume a presented document corresponds to a real person. US authorities moved against OnlyFake and some of its competitors, and its creator was arrested, sentenced and deported.
Key Perspectives
- Yuriy Nazarenko: describes OnlyFake as a technology startup operating in an illegal market, says he hid behind the idea that clients decided how to use the service, and now says he was building something that could harm people.
- The United Nations: wrote to OnlyFake saying North Korean IT workers had used the service to make fake passports and driver's licenses for remote work in the US, and demanded user data.
- The Department of Justice: said OnlyFake generated at least 10,000 fake IDs and made $1.2 million selling them at $15 each.
- Igor Litvak, Nazarenko's lawyer: says his client offered to cooperate with authorities, including by providing customer information, but prosecutors did not take up the offer.
What to Watch
- Whether cryptocurrency exchanges and other financial firms harden their identity checks against AI-generated documents, as OKX was reported to have done.
- Whether the FBI's campaign against the site's copycats continues; authorities shut down some of OnlyFake's competitors.
- Whether prosecutors identify specific victims or users of the service; none were named when Nazarenko was sentenced.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 11 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedNazarenko is telling his story publicly for the first time.404 Media: “Now for the first time, Nazarenko, 28, free after a year in prison and living in Asia, is telling his story”
- SupportedNazarenko was arrested at Bucharest airport on a US warrant.404 Media: “authorities told Nazarenko there was a U.S. warrant out for his arrest. He was handcuffed”
- SupportedThe UN said North Korean remote IT workers used OnlyFake.404 Media: “The UN letter said some of these workers were using OnlyFake to make fake IDs to sign up for freelance job sites, social media networks, and payment platforms.”
- SupportedNazarenko was sentenced to time served of 12 months.404 Media: “This June, around a year after his initial arrest, a judge sentenced Nazarenko to time served of 12 months”
- SupportedNazarenko was deported on August 17.404 Media: “On August 17, Nazarenko was deported along with several other Ukrainians on a chartered flight.”
- SupportedThe Department of Justice said OnlyFake generated at least 10,000 fake IDs and made $1.2 million.404 Media: “Later the Department of Justice said OnlyFake generated at least 10,000 fake IDs, and made $1.2 million over the years.”
- SupportedNazarenko said, “When you zoom in several hundred percent, you begin to understand how complicated even an ordinary passport or driver's license really is.”404 Media: ““When you zoom in several hundred percent, you begin to understand how complicated even an ordinary passport or driver’s license really is. What looks like a simple plastic card to most people is actually made up of a huge number of small security and design elements,” he told me.”
- SupportedNazarenko recalled, “In practice, we started operating much like a normal technology startup, except we were operating in an illegal market.”404 Media: ““In practice, we started operating much like a normal technology startup, except we were operating in an illegal market,” he recalled.”
- SupportedNazarenko said other criminals were selling fish, while he “was selling the fishing rod.”404 Media: “Nazarenko said other criminals were selling fish, while he “was selling the fishing rod.””
- SupportedA law enforcement agent bought five kinds of fake documents from OnlyFake in May 2024, and customer support explained how to use them to circumvent exchange checks.404 Media: “First, they bought a fake New York state identification card from OnlyFake, according to court records. Then they bought a fake U.S. passport card. Just over a week later, they purchased a New York state driver’s license and a U.S. passport. A couple of days later, they bought a fake Social Security card.”
- Partly supportedLitvak said Nazarenko offered to cooperate, including by providing customer information.404 Media: “Igor Litvak, Nazarenko’s lawyer, said Nazarenko offered to cooperate with the authorities, including providing potential customers’ information.”
- SupportedNazarenko said, “I was building something that could be used to harm people, and I was making money from it. I did not fully understand that until I was sitting inside a concrete cell.”404 Media: ““I was building something that could be used to harm people, and I was making money from it. I did not fully understand that until I was sitting inside a concrete cell,” Nazarenko said.”
