Bio-Swap: a biometrics-based solution to combat SIM swap fraud

• Main Author: Jordaan, Adriaan Louis
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Cell phone systems access control; Biometric identification computer programs; Computer fraud prevention
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3707

M.Sc. (Computer Science) === The past couple of years have seen an explosion in the number of online fraud schemes – Total annual losses exceed tens of millions of Rands. Many people and organizations from all over the world have fallen victim to it. Nobody is safe; everybody is vulnerable. As we increasingly make use of the Internet and mobile technology to do our work and to perform chores such as online banking or shopping, we become even more vulnerable. Fraudsters make use of ever-more sophisticated techniques and clever schemes to target the unsuspecting end-users of mobile and Internet technology, and to trick them into surrendering their personal information so that electronic transactions can be carried out in their name. Examples include cheque and credit card fraud, phishing, identity theft and spyware, to name but a few. Services such as Internet- and cell phone banking especially, provide a haven of possibilities to make easy money because the technology is relatively new, and it is being used by evermore people who believe that it is fast, safe and secure and will therefore make their lives easier. One of the latest scams at the time of this writing is “SIM swap fraud”: Fraudsters target specific victims, perform SIM swaps on their cell phone numbers, and then proceed to empty the victims’ bank accounts. This is all done in a matter of minutes, so the victims only realize what has happened when it is too late to do anything about it. Needless to say, a solution must be found that will prevent unauthorized SIM swaps and strengthen online banking security. This dissertation does exactly that. It examines the digital world known as cyberspace, identifies how SIM swap fraudsters manage to defraud their targets, and presents a biometrics-based security system to combat SIM swap fraud.