Sleeping Man’s Coworkers Steal ₹1 Lakh From Him Using His Phone’s Facial Recognition

There are several ways of securing one’s smartphone. Firstly, there’s the pattern lock. Secondly, there’s the numbered password. Then there’s the alphabetical password. And by the time we reach the facial recognition and/or thumb impression stage, we start to feel like James Bond.

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However, only feeling like we’re 007 won’t save us from people who are trying to steal our belongings. They’ve to keep one eye open even when they sleep. And a Chinese restaurant worker learnt that the hard way.

According to Shanghaiist, two men in the city of Ningbo stole their coworker’s phone while he was sleeping and used its facial recognition technology to pry it open. And then they proceeded to empty his bank account.

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The two restaurant workers cum robbers simply pointed the phone at its owner’s face and it opened. Then they transferred more than Rs 1 lakh (10,000 yuan) out of his WeChat account. They even stole the phone which was worth around Rs 10,000 (1000 yuan).

When the victim finally opened his eyes the next day, he was shocked to find that the numbers in his account had severely reduced. He contacted the police who apparently tracked the culprits down easily since they had transferred the money to their own accounts. That said, the police were surprised to find out that facial recognition works even if the phone’s owner’s eyes are closed.

So, in case if you’ve roommates who don’t seem very friendly, please install a better security software into your smartphone or delink your bank accounts from all the apps in your device. Or, if you’re technically handicapped like me, just wear a balaclava to sleep.

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