Virtual violence, real consequences: A slow battle against deepfakes

Collien Fernandes is sitting opposite a producer over a meal when he suddenly starts to hem and haw. He tells her that they had been chatting on LinkedIn for a long time, about six months without any obligation. Then she started flirting with him, sending him naked pictures, even sex videos. Fernandes knows nothing about it. She didn't do it, she didn't take any messages, photos or videos, let alone send them.

As it would later turn out, Fernandes' ex-husband Christian Ulmen had written to the producer on her behalf and sent so-called deepfake porn – videos in which the face of one person is superimposed on the body of another using artificial intelligence (AI). "I was involuntarily turned into someone who hits on men in this industry, " Fernandes told Weisser Ring magazine in an interview, referring to it as "digital sexual abuse".

The phenomenon itself is not new nor does it stop at the borders of Luxembourg. Bee Secure has seen an increase in cases involving deepfakes and manipulated images in recent years. In 2025, the helpline registered 21 cases of sextortion, five cases of grooming and three cases of non-consensual sharing of intimate images (NCSII) (see infobox). In addition, there were 33 cases of sextortion via written communication. For 2026, Bee Secure has already recorded 19 cases of sextortion, one case of grooming and five cases of NCSII (as of May 2025). "Anyone can be affected by this phenomenon, " says Bee Secure. "All it takes to produce a sexualised deepfake is a photo that is available online. Any image on the internet can be misused by the perpetrator for such purposes."

These cases are extremely stressful for those affected: "The psychological pressure, the fear, the feeling of losing control … The dissemination of intimate images deeply encroaches on the privacy and well-being of those affected, " says Bee Secure. In the case of sextortion, the perpetrator exerts pressure on the victim by demanding money or further images and threatening to publish them and send them to acquaintances of the victim. "Typical of such manipulation is that the victim is deliberately given the feeling that there is no other way out. The perpetrator deliberately plays on emotions such as shame and fear, including fear of consequences or damage to their reputation."