In Karnataka, Aadhaar payment scam hits those registering properties

SEVERAL CASES of fraud involving Aadhaar Enabled Payment Systems (AEPS) where people havebeendefraudedafterusing Aadhaar data during the registration of properties have emerged in Karnataka prompting the state police to launch investigations in multiple locations.

Accordingtothepolice, more than 20 cases have been registered in recent months. The police suspect the role of intermediary agencies offering authenticationservicesbetween the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), and state and central agencies in the fraud reported in recent weeks in Bengaluru and Mangaluru.

The amounts reported to be lost in the AEPS linked cyber crimes is less than Rs 10,000 in every case due to a cap on AEPS transactions, but several cases havebeenreportedinkarnataka over the past few months, according to sources in the State Levelbankers'committee(slbc) and the cybercrime police.

AEPS allows a person to remove Rs 10,000 per day from banks with biometric data (in the form of the thumb impression) and the Aadhaar number as authentication.

Four members of a family in Bengalurufellvictimthisoctober to the fraud after they used Aadhaar data while registering a property in the Tumkur region of the state. “It was first detected in my wife Asha's account on October 6. Subsequently, we discovered that money was debited from the account of my brotherin-law Ramamurthy, his son Shreyas and sister-in-law Vijayalakshmi,” the victim Rajgopalsharmasaid.

Similar cases have been reported in Mangaluru, where more than 15 people have lost money after registering properties in the sub-registrar’s office.