Subscriber Verification, developed by C-DoT, looks for images with similar facial vectors to identify fraudulent connections.
A facial recognition system compares a digital image or video frame with a database of faces to identify a person’s face.
The Indian government has canceled more than 64 lakh, or 6.4 million, “fraudulent” phone connections in the previous six months after using facial recognition technology to identify them.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) Centre of Development of Telematics (C-DoT) developed the Artificial Intelligence and Facial Recognition Solution for Telecom SIM Subscriber Verification, or ASTR, which recognizes when a single person uses their photo to obtain SIM cards more than the allowed amount of times.
A person with an Aadhar card can only have nine SIM cards, per DoT regulations. However, according to C-DoT’s ASTR, there have been instances where a single person has obtained phone connections thousands of times, not merely hundreds of times.
During COVID-19, the use of facial recognition as a touchless replacement for numerous processes in governance and business entities increased dramatically. However, without appropriate data protection standards, its usage—which involves processing enormous databases—has continued since then. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act of India was enacted in August 2023 but has not yet been implemented.
How does it work to recognize
The facial recognition system compares a person’s facial features with those in the phone registration database to determine whether or not they have obtained a connection for longer than is allowed.
“We run this exercise on 140 crore, complete database of India. It is a very complex process, and nowhere in the world has such a large database been processed simultaneously,” Rajkumar Upadhyay, CEO of C-DoT, told one publisher.
According to Upadhyay, there have been instances where someone has used disguises to obtain numerous SIM cards while registering.
“The database looks for patterns in these pictures, even when someone wears a mask and makes many sim connections. This is known as a “facial vector,” and each individual has their own face vector. Additionally, Upadhyay stated, “vectors like a person’s lips and eyes don’t change with disguises.”
“After that, the system searches for further individuals who have obtained SIM cards and have face vectors comparable to mine. This is so because there is a legal limit of nine connections that one can make. However, we discovered even 1,000–2,000 images in certain circumstances,” Upadhyay continued.
According to Upadhyay, most of these connections are utilized for online fraud, such as posing as customer support representatives to deceive gullible clients. These incidents have multiplied over the past few years, and law enforcement organizations are struggling to handle their scope as the number of victims has reached the lakhs throughout India.
As soon as it is detected
When C-DoT, via ASTR, finds these kinds of incidents, it notifies the relevant telecom operator.
Following that, these individuals receive warnings and are requested to provide KYC documentation. And the link is cut off after 60 days if authorities still need to get the correct answer.
Upadhyay added that the authorities have begun to take action against the stores that sell these SIM cards in large quantities.
“Where are these simulations coming from? They had to have come from a store. Since their involvement was necessary for these frauds to be conceivable, we have also caught them,” he stated.
The connection using WhatsApp
Upadhyay does point out that they are also keeping an eye out for WhatsApp profiles connected to these phony phone numbers.
“Sim cards are usually hidden over time when used in large quantities for cybercrimes. Nevertheless, we discovered that these offenders don’t delete their WhatsApp profiles,” he continued, noting that a SIM card is only required once to register on WhatsApp.
Scammers have been attacking citizens since 2023, using WhatsApp to connect with prospective victims. “So we have also been getting the WhatsApp profiles deactivated,” he stated.
