Ahmedabad Police Uncover High-Tech Cyber Crime Using AI Tools
Cyber Criminals Exploit Advanced Technology
As technology enhances our convenience, criminals are increasingly leveraging it for nefarious purposes. The cybercrime unit of Ahmedabad police has dismantled a sophisticated gang that utilized modern tools like Google Gemini AI to create a deepfake video of a businessman and bypassed biometric authentication without requiring an OTP.
This incident came to light when a businessman engaged in import-export noticed he had not received OTPs from his bank for two consecutive days. Suspecting foul play, he reached out to the police. During the investigation, authorities discovered that his mobile number linked to his Aadhaar had been changed without OTP verification, and his biometric data had been tampered with.
Investigators also found that a bank account had been opened in his name, from which a loan of ₹25,000 was taken. Additionally, the gang had gained access to the businessman’s DigiLocker account to retrieve stored documents.
According to officials, the gang employed Google’s Gemini AI tool to produce the victim's deepfake video, which was used to bypass Aadhaar biometric verification and alter his registered mobile number, redirecting all OTPs to a number controlled by the suspects.
Using the victim's Aadhaar number and other personal information, the gang attempted to open accounts in three banks via e-KYC, successfully securing a loan of ₹25,000 through Jio Payments Bank.
One of the arrested individuals worked at a Common Service Center and allegedly misused his access to the Aadhaar system and official kits to change mobile numbers.
Investigators expressed surprise at the sophistication of the methods employed in this fraud. The four arrested individuals have been identified as Kanubhai Parmar, Ashish Vandan, Mohammad Kaif Patel, and Deep Gupta.
This incident occurred shortly after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired a high-level meeting with top bank officials to discuss how rapidly advancing AI tools could pose threats to the country's banking system.
The discussions focused on potential cybersecurity risks associated with Anthropic's Cloud Mythos model, a powerful AI system that has recently come under scrutiny following reports of unauthorized access.