Aadhaar-enabled payment fraud on rise, warn Telangana cops

HYDERABAD: Telangana police have issued an alert on Aadhaar-enabled payment system (AePS) fraud.
The state police issued the warning after a spate of instances of AePS fraud in Haryana, Jharkhand and other areas parts of the country.

In a message on social media platforms, Telangana police said: "If you lost money from Aadhaar-enabled payment system without your knowledge, immediately disable your biometric link from your Aadhaar. Never share your Aadhaar details with anyone."
Data security expert Kodali Srinivas, said: "Criminals had stolen biometric data, including thumbprints, from Haryana's land records website. They created duplicate prints on silicon and withdrew funds from Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of victims." Similar cases were reported in Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, too.
"AePS fraud has been happening for a few years now. The Supreme Court, in its judgement, had clearly ordered banks to not link Aadhaar to bank accounts. But by forcing this linkage, people are being made vulnerable to AePS fraud, " Srinivas said.
"When people give their biometrics for Aadhaar authentication, they don't know if it is for getting ration or withdrawing money. This information asymmetry is resulting in financial fraud," he said.