The fallout from the bavfakes scandal was significant and multi-faceted. The incident ignited a global conversation about the dangers of AI and the need for regulation. The traumatizing experience of the victims, including Maya Higa, saw her personal experience of being exploited used to highlight the gravity of fabricating explicit deepfakes. The scandal forced the industry to confront these issues:

Since these websites operate illegally, there is no consumer protection. Users often report instances of being scammed, where payment is sent—usually via cryptocurrency or other untraceable methods—but no product is ever delivered. Identity Theft:

: While it may use HTTPS (the padlock icon), this only ensures your connection is encrypted; it does not guarantee the site itself is legitimate or that your data won't be stolen by the operators. Risk Level Extremely High