University students and members of women's right group hold a press conference in Gangnam District, Seoul, Aug. 29. Yonhap

A total of 24 military and defense personnel have been found to be victims of deepfake crimes in a probe led by a vice ministerial-level task force, the defense ministry said Monday.

The task force, launched on Aug. 29, has provided necessary consultations as well as legal and medical support to the victims, and helped them report their cases to the police, the ministry said.

The ministry said it has restricted access to intranet photos of soldiers as well as military and ministry officials, and launched awareness education programs to prevent similar crimes.

The move came after numerous chat rooms suspected of creating and distributing deepfake pornographic material with doctored photos of ordinary women and female service members have been discovered on Telegram. (Yonhap)