Aadhaar, biometric details stolen to clean out account

Hyderabad: In yet another case of fraud using stolen customer biometrics and details on Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS), cops on Tuesday arrested a man from Bihar for siphoning off money from the account of a victim in Hyderabad. About six months ago, Cyberabad cops had busted a gang from Telangana and AP running a similar AePS fraud. Following the latest breach, cops said it is important to use only masked Aadhaar card while submitting it as ID proof and keep Aadhaar biometrics locked.The current case was registered on December 7 and the probe led the Crime Investigation Department (CID) officials to Kishanganj in Bihar from where Akmal Alam, a customer service point (CSP) agent, was arrested for stealing 24,000 from the city-based victim’s account in a public sector bank.Cops said that the accused were using the mini banking system permitted by the Reserve Bank of India by starting a CSP and then accessing customers’ credentials to steal money. “The accused may have secured fingerprints from registration department documents or bank data and then forged these fingerprints or thumb impressions,” a CID official said, adding that if fraudsters can tap credentials such as Aadhaar number, bank name and fingerprint of a customer, then money can be stolen from an account from any part of the world without the victim’s knowledge. “Somehow the accused managed to get these key credentials. The prime accused is yet to be traced. Only after nabbing him, will we be able to confirm from where the data breach took place,” the CID official said.Advising people to be careful with their Aadhaar, an investigator said: “As far as possible avoid sharing copies of Aadhaar with private agencies. If you have to then use masked a Aadhaar. Masking option allows you to mask your Aadhaar number in your downloaded e-Aadhaar. In the masked Aadhaar, only the last 4 digits are visible while rest is marked out with an ‘x’. Also, avoid registration of fingerprints on websites and unofficial agencies.”