No OTP, no problem: Ahmedabad gang uses AI deepfakes to bypass Aadhaar checks

The case came to light after an Ahmedabad businessman noticed he had stopped receiving OTPs from his bank for two days. He approached the police after noticing something was amiss.

In Short

• Businessman complains after OTPs stopped arriving for two days
• Police found his Aadhaar-linked mobile number altered without verification
• Gang used Gemini AI to create deepfake videos to bypass verification

The Ahmedabad Police Cyber Crime Branch on Wednesday arrested four men who allegedly used artificial intelligence to create deepfake videos of a businessman to bypass Aadhaar biometric checks and take a fraudulent loan. – all without ever triggering an OTP alert.

The four arrested men have been identified as Kanubhai Parmar, Ashish Vanand, Mohammad Kaif Patel and Deep Gupta.

Investigators said they were surprised by the sophistication of the method used in the fraud.

THE CASE

The case came to light after a city-based businessman noticed he had stopped receiving OTPs from his bank for two days. He approached the police after noticing something was amiss.

Investigators found that the mobile number linked to his Aadhaar had been changed without OTP verification and that his biometric data had been tampered with.

A bank account was subsequently opened in his name, a loan of Rs 25,000 was taken from it, and his DigiLocker account was accessed to retrieve stored documents.

HOW THEY OPERATED

The gang used Google’s Gemini AI tool to generate deepfake videos of the victim, which were then used to bypass Aadhaar biometric authentication and change his registered mobile number, redirecting all OTPs to a number controlled by the accused.

One of the arrested men worked at a Common Service Centre and allegedly misused his access to Aadhaar systems and official kits to execute the mobile number change.

Using the businessman's Aadhaar number and other personal data, the gang attempted to open accounts across three banks through e-KYC. They succeeded with Jio Payments Bank, through which they took a Rs 25,000 loan.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

The incident is a reminder that Aadhaar holders should lock their biometric data through the UIDAI portal when not in active use, limiting the window for misuse even if personal details are compromised.

- Ends