Dong Thap Police warn of biometric fraud via mobile camera hijacking

Police in Dong Thap province have identified a sophisticated new method used by high-tech criminals to steal money from bank accounts by bypassing biometric authentication.

Instead of attacking bank security systems directly, criminals target the victim's mobile device. This method is particularly effective on devices that have been jailbroken (iOS) or rooted (Android), or those infected with malware from untrusted links or applications.

Once a device is compromised, malware intercepts the facial recognition step during a transaction. The software prevents the banking app from accessing the live camera feed and instead injects pre-recorded facial data or video to trick the system into believing the account holder is authorizing the transfer. This allows criminals to execute unauthorized transactions without the victim's knowledge.

Authorities advise users to avoid jailbreaking or rooting their phones and to only install applications from official sources like the Google Play Store to maintain operating system security layers.