KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — A Japanese man gained many social media followers – by changing how he looks using photo editing apps.

The man named Zonggu said he used apps such as FaceApp to make himself appear like a younger beautiful woman because he believed no one wanted to see an old uncle, the Daily Mail reported.

His ruse, however, was realised by eagle-eyed social media users who noticed Zonggu’s very masculine-looking bare arm in one of his posted photos.

That led to a television station to embark on a hunt that culminated in Zonggu revealing his true self.

The 50-year-old man with long hair, goes by the Twitter handle @azusagakuyuki and has gained a following of almost 18,000 with life updates and pictures dressed in a motorcycle jacket or posing with Yamaha bikes.

Zonggu said he turned to the face-changing app because he wanted to gain popularity on social media, as well as increase the engagement of his posts.

He told the TV station that he enjoyed the feeling of becoming an online celebrity.

Many social media users praised Zonggu for "turning” himself in as well as the work he put into turning himself into a cute girl.

Women, meanwhile, joked that Zonggu looks prettier than them while others described the whole situation as catfish on the ‘next level’.