Scammer clones your fingerprint from a property document and drains your bank via AePS
Scammers download your fingerprint from public property-registry PDFs, fabricate a silicone clone, and drain your bank account at any AePS terminal — no card, no PIN, no OTP required. Victims discover the theft via bank SMS or passbook.
Also known as: AePS biometric fraud, Aadhaar fingerprint cloning, rubber thumb bank fraud, AePS withdrawal fraud, biometric identity theft India
Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes
Call 1930 now- 1 Call 1930 — the national cyber-crime helpline — right now. The sooner you report, the better the chance of freezing the money before it moves.
- 2 Call your bank to freeze the account and block the card immediately. Use the number printed on your card, never a number from the message or caller.
- 3 File a report at cybercrime.gov.in and keep every message, screenshot, and transaction ID.
What to do right now
- 1 Lock your Aadhaar biometrics immediately using the UIDAI website (uidai.gov.in) or mAadhaar app — this disables all AePS withdrawals until you unlock
- 2 Call your bank's 24-hour fraud helpline to freeze your account and dispute the fraudulent AePS debits
- 3 Zero liability applies if you report to your bank within 3 working days; limited liability (up to ₹25,000 bank cover) if reported within 4–7 working days
- 4 File a complaint at the nearest cybercrime police station with your bank SMS records, passbook entries, and Aadhaar transaction history
- 5 Request your Aadhaar transaction history from NPCI's AePS portal to see every terminal where your biometric was used
- 6 Report at https://cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 (national cyber helpline).
Red flags
- ⚠ Money debited via 'AePS withdrawal' in an SMS notification you never initiated — AePS needs only Aadhaar number + fingerprint
- ⚠ The withdrawal location in your bank SMS is a town or district you have never visited
- ⚠ Your Aadhaar number appears on a publicly accessible property sale deed (from a government registry portal)
- ⚠ NPCI sends a debit SMS but your phone received no OTP — AePS transactions bypass OTP entirely
- ⚠ Multiple small withdrawals (₹5,000–₹10,000 each) at different CSP/banking-correspondent locations within minutes or hours
Known variants
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AI face-cloning variant (2026): fraudsters use AI-generated facial replicas from photos to bypass liveness-detection at upgraded AePS terminals. The cloned face video fools standard webcam-based liveness checks.
Last seen: 6/4/2026
Sources
- The420.in — Fake Fingerprints, Cloned Biometrics and AEPS Fraud: Three Arrested in Uttar Pradesh
- The420.in — Police Seize 689 Cloned Fingerprints in Aligarh AePS Case
- The420.in — AEPS Scam Raises Major Banking Security Concerns as Accounts Can Be Drained Without Card or OTP
- Biometric Update — India envisages additional measures against growing Aadhaar-enabled payments fraud
- UIDAI — Biometric Lock/Unlock Service
- RTI Wiki — AePS / Aadhaar Biometric Fraud Recovery 2026