The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) anticipates putting in place a live finger detector (LFD) system to stop people from using SIM cards and phones without permission and from doing other types of cybercrime.
According to government records, the Interior Ministry has learned that criminals use a variety of tricks to trick naive social media users into sending their money to an imposter’s account.
Live Finger Detector (LFD) technology uses analytical methods to tell the difference between real and fake fingers in pictures. Thanks to a new analysis algorithm, it’s easy to tell the difference between real and fake fingers. This is because the algorithm can find differences in the way the pattern of a fingerprint photo changes over time. As well as various static signs of liveness or unnaturalness.
As real fingers slowly touch the sensor surface. The patterns of the area, intensity, and movement change in a natural way. However, fake fingers produce unnaturally changing patterns with separate areas, partially dark areas, distorted boundary shapes, and huge movement of the core section. It would help identify false fingerprints.
Mobile SIM cards are one of the main tools in this type of fraud. Fraudulently cellular SIM cards is did use in a number of ways, like by making a silicon thumb impression. Section 17 of the PECA-2016 says that biometric verification of illegal SIM cards falls under the PTA’s jurisdiction (unauthorized issuance of SIM cards).
Sections 13 (electronic forgery), 14 (electronic fraud), 16 (unlawful use of identification information), and 17 (illegal SIMs) of PECA-2016 all talk about similar crimes.
The documents also said that the FIA Cybercrime Wing (FIA-CCW). Which is an investigation agency, has now taken swift action in these cases.
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Sections 13 and 14 of the PECA-2016 make financial fraud a crime. The FIA-CCW has did receive 21,259 reports of it this year. There were 21,259 complaints, of which 3,894 are then did turn into regular investigations. Then, 352 cases did open, and 415 suspects did pick up. In 2021, CCW did report 3,894 calls, 652 cases, and 703 arrests.
This year, 33 crimes do report to the CCW FIA, and 69 suspects do the arrest. In 2021, a total of 53 people were arrested and 22 cases became filed for breaking PECA-2016 Article 17 (illegal SIM issuing). Holders and users of these SIMs also are did prosecute under the relevant sections of PECA-2016. The franchise owner, etc., who aided and abetted the criminal activity, is likewise subject to criminal prosecution.
The documents also did show that there are crackdowns on both the sellers and buyers of silicon thumbs. The PTA plans to use a live finger detector (LFD) to get rid of silicon thumbs. The PTA has the IMEI number of a mobile handset to permanently disable it.