face recognition
Man opens his eyes to sleeping ex-girlfriend to unlock her smartphone – and steals 21,000 euros
The young woman would certainly never have dreamed that her account would be plundered in her sleep (symbolic image)
© Geber86 / Getty Images
Thanks to facial recognition, you rarely have to enter your smartphone code. A criminal has now used this to his advantage – and resorted to extreme means.
Today it is hard to imagine for most people. But until 2012 it was completely normal to have to enter a code every time you unlock your smartphone. Only the introduction of fingerprint scanners and later face recognition made this unnecessary. A Chinese man brought their abuse to court: he had ransacked his ex-girlfriend’s account thanks to the unlocked face.
The 28-year-old, known only by his family name Huang, had visited his ex-girlfriend Dong in December last year, according to the court, and the two of them lived in separate apartments in Nanning City. He wanted to give back the money he borrowed from her during their relationship, he told his victim, according to a report in the Times.
Transfers in your sleep
But he found his ex-girlfriend sick. Huang cooked her something to eat and gave her cold medicine. Dong fell asleep, probably as a result of the medication. And Huang took the opportunity.
With her fingerprint he unlocked Dong’s Huawei smartphone and tried to open the Alipay payment app from the popular online retailer Alibaba. But it was additionally protected with face recognition. Because it couldn’t be unlocked with closed eyes, Huang came up with something else: he pulled up the eyelids of his sleeping ex with his fingers and finally got into the app.
Once logged in, he ransacked her account. He transferred 154,000 Chinese yuan to his own account, which corresponds to just under 21,500 euros. Then he packed the smartphone and one of Dong’s coats and ran away.
Long imprisonment
When Dong woke up the next morning, she couldn’t find her phone. It wasn’t until she logged on to a second smartphone that she realized that her money with Huang was gone. He did not react to attempts at contact. The police did not find the thief until months later: he had gone to another city. The money had used his living expenses for him and paid off some betting debts.
Now the deed comes at dearly for Huang. He was sentenced by a court to a prison term of 3.5 years, and he has to pay a fine of almost 18,000 euros. However, Dong should get the money back from Alipay: The payment service provider promises to reimburse the damage in the event of theft.
Source: The Times