SIM Card Fraud: The government has weaponized Artificial Intelligence-Face Recognition Enabled System- ASTR to crack down on cybercrime. From this, the details of the SIM used in cyber crime are extracted.
Image Credit source: File Photo
Cyber Crime Prevention: The first link of cybercrime is the SIM card. To curb fake sims, the central government has made modern technology a weapon. more than eight million fake sim have been deactivated. Artificial Intelligence and Face Recognition Enabled Telecom SIM Subscriber Verification System (ASTR) agencies are monitoring, so that cyber criminals can not rob people’s bank accounts, credit cards or payment wallets.
Agencies are keeping an eye on every suspicious call made from Jamtara, Mewat and Purulia, which is called the stronghold of cyber crime, through ASTR system. More than 8 lakh fake SIMs of these cybercrime spots have been deactivated, because with the latest system, the agencies come to know in a few moments whether the SIMs are swapped or fake.
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After the success of the ASTR pilot project in Haryana, Mewat, it has been implemented for the whole country. Where the details of 16.70 lakh SIM details and government identity cards were matched. At the same time, around 5 lakh SIMs have been deactivated.
How does ASTR work?
According to TRAI, there are 114.36 crore mobile users in the country. The photos, forms, documents of the SIM cards of all the mobile users of those places in ASTR from where the complaints have come have been scanned with facial recognition technology.
After scanning, the SIM details and the details of government identity cards are matched through artificial intelligence. (Apart from this, if any document has been used in taking the SIM, then it is matched)
Agencies proceed on the basis of discrepancy found in matching photo, date of birth, father’s name, address, signature. The detail matching process to verify the genuineness of a SIM takes only a few moments.
If there is criminal activity from any SIM, digital details of all the documents are sent to the agencies with immediate matching. The agencies activate the police of the respective states. The SIM is deactivated till the investigation is done. Along with this, the system also gives information about the number of phones in which the concerned SIM has been used.
Data of criminals being prepared
SIM forms, documents and photos of all SIM users are recorded in the software. After the data of criminals across the country is prepared, their data will be merged in this software. AI enabled software is further confirmed by video and documents given for online verification in getting a new SIM.
What do experts say?
According to Pawan Duggal, an expert in law and technical matters against cybercrime, suppose you received a call, in which you were asked to invest or transfer money immediately. You inform about it to the online National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP), Police, Local Cyber Unit, Bank Cyber Unit or Local Police.
Cyber units of all states, banks and other institutions are linked to the NCCRP of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. As soon as they get the information about this, first of all the concerned SIM is deactivated after knowing the truth of the SIM with the help of ASTR. After this further action is started. In many cases, the government has been successful in deactivating the SIM even before the cyber fraud takes place through ASTR.
From the point of view of law, gathering the details of people without their consent by the government and matching them with government identity cards is a violation of the right to privacy. Perhaps this is the reason why the government is not making this success public. According to experts, it is necessary to have rules and regulations for any system. The legal basis must be clear before using this technique.
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