Mumbai: The central government has issued an advisory warning citizens about Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven authentication bypass scam. The National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit (NCTAU) has observed that fraudsters may use facial recordings obtained through deceptive video calls, fake online job interviews or social engineering tactics to gain unauthorised access to financial and digital services.
Cybercriminals Exploit Deepfake Technology
According to the advisory, cybercriminals are increasingly using AI to create realistic deepfake videos and synthetic identities. These technologies may be exploited to bypass facial authentication, liveness verification, Video-KYC, account recovery, and unauthorized access to financial and digital services. Fraudsters may attempt to gain unauthorized access to accounts by using facial recordings obtained through deceptive video calls, fake online job interviews or social engineering tactics.
Explaining the modus-operandi used by the criminals, the advisory states, fraudsters contact individuals through social media platforms, messaging applications, job portals, dating platforms, or phone calls. Facial data may be collected through public platforms. Victims may also be convinced for facial movements such as looking at the screen, turning their head, blinking, or speaking. These interactions could be secretly recorded by the fraudsters.
Modus Operandi
"The recorded video could be processed using AI-based tools to generate a realistic digital replica capable of imitating the victim's facial movements, expressions / eye blinks, and voice clones. In case of absence of deep fake detection, this synthetic media may be used to bypass facial authentication and liveness verification systems. This could result in bypassing of KYC procedure adopted by financial institutions, and which may be further used to create or activate financial accounts," the advisory states.
Suggesting precautionary measures, the advisory states, "Locking your biometric profile is the strongest defense against this type of remote identity theft. Keep a watch on any email notifications for unauthorized login or authentication attempts. Report the financial fraud or identity theft immediately. Speed is crucial to freeze siphoned funds before they leave the banking network. Provide the fraudster's contact number and the video link used. If your mobile network connectivity suddenly stops working, contact your network provider immediately to ensure a fraudulent SIM swap has not occurred."
To get details on exclusive and budget-friendly property deals in Mumbai & surrounding regions, do visit: https://budgetproperties.in/
