Aadhaar biometric scam: Duo from Bihar arrested for exploiting Karnataka govt portal

Since Kaveri is a public domain, once a person registers using their email address and mobile number, they would get access to download the registration papers,” an official said.

Bengaluru: Two men from Bihar were caught using the Karnataka government’s land registration portal to assist them in their Aadhaar biometric fraud. The North-East Cyber Economic and Narcotics Crime (CEN) police in the city arrested Abuzhar, 28, and Mohammed Parwez Ezdani, 26, from the Araria district of Bihar on Saturday.

The duo was arrested after two cases of Aadhaar-related fraud were recently registered in northeastern Bengaluru, resulting in victims losing Rs 38,000 and Rs 10,000, respectively.

These arrests closely follow a reported massive data breach in which the personal details of 81.5 crore Indians were allegedly leaked on the dark web, as well as the recent arrests of three men from Bihar, who were allegedly involved in Aadhaar biometric fraud, by the Mangaluru police.

Con using govt portal

An investigating official revealed to DH that the two individuals arrested, along with another suspect who is still at large, operated remotely from Araria and targeted their victims after obtaining their Aadhaar details and thumb impressions.

The suspects used the state government’s Kaveri Online Services, a portal for property registration, to download the registration papers containing Aadhaar numbers and thumb impressions.

“Since Kaveri is a public domain, once a person registers using their email address and mobile number, they would get access to download the registration papers,” the official said.

“You can either search randomly or by using the specific registration numbers to download them,” the official added.

The suspects then created a thermal image of the fingerprints on silicone papers and used the Aadhaar numbers in the apps providing the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) services like Spice Money and Ezeepay and also withdraw money through micro ATMs. 

“The suspects link their accounts with the AEPS apps and withdraw the money from the victims’ accounts since it is linked with the respective Aadhaar numbers,” the investigating official said.

The three men arrested on October 22 by the Mangaluru police were from Purnia. 

‘116 cases reported so far’

Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda said “In the last three to four months 116 cases [related to Aadhaar biometric fraud] have been reported in the city. The suspects are misusing the facility provided by the government. We have brought this to the notice of the Inspector General of Registration and Commissioner of Stamps to bring in changes where the biometric and Aadhaar numbers would be masked.”

Is there a failsafe? A vital step to prevent Aadhaar misuse as suggested by the police is to lock the biometrics. You can visit the UIDAI web portal click ‘Lock/Unlock Biometrics’ under MyAadhaar log in and follow the steps. Also the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has set a “maximum transaction amount of Rs. 10000 on a single AEPS financial transaction”.

The police seized two laptops from the duo which the cops believe contain the downloaded registration papers two mobile phones and three portable biometric fingerprint scanners and sent them for forensic analysis. Police also froze Rs 1.05 lakh in the suspects’ bank accounts.