This is part 2 of our guide to KYC scams in India: the five that beat the check itself, with a forged, false or borrowed identity. Unlike the scams in part 1, checking a record at its source stops most of these.
- 88 lakh+fraudulent mobile connections disconnected
- 1.43 crore+connections cut after people said "not my number"
- 32.08 lakhmule accounts flagged by banks by June 2026
- 2.5 croreAadhaar numbers of people who died, deactivated
1. Forged ID documents
Fake Aadhaar, PAN and voter cards are cheap and look real. A forged card can even carry a QR code, but it holds whatever the forger typed. The telecom department has cut over 88 lakh fraudulent connections, and 2.5 crore Aadhaar numbers of people who died have been deactivated to stop misuse (ANI).
Delhi, July 2026Police shut a website selling forged Aadhaar, PAN and voter cards. Officers paid Rs 100, typed in made-up details and got a convincing Aadhaar card. Its QR code wasn't linked to any official database (IANS).
Looking at the card can't catch this. Checking its signed QR code or the issuer's record can.
2. Real cards issued on false papers
The hardest kind to catch: an insider issues a genuine card or SIM on forged papers. The record is real, so a source check passes.
Rajasthan, April 2026Police arrested a man running an unauthorised Aadhaar centre in Hanumangarh. They say he used other operators' logins and "dummy fingerprints made of rubber" to get past biometric checks (PTI).
In October 2026 the Rajasthan High Court refused bail to government officials accused of helping prepare forged Aadhaar cards (LiveLaw). UIDAI has added real-time document checks to adult enrolment (Business Standard). The best defence is a second, independent record: a made-up identity rarely matches tax, provident fund and education records too.
3. Misuse of shared copies
Every copy of your Aadhaar and PAN can be reused for a loan, a SIM or a GST registration in your name. More than 1.43 crore connections have been cut after people marked them "Not My Number" on Sanchar Saathi (PIB).
Source: Ministry of Finance, Lok Sabha reply, via PTI (Outlook Money), December 2025
The figures are from a Lok Sabha reply (PTI). An earlier reply put the 2024-25 number made with other people's stolen or forged details at 1,654 (IANS).
Tamil Nadu, September 2026A 71-year-old woman in Krishnagiri found her bank account frozen over Rs 2.53 crore in GST dues, for a company registered in her name with copies of her Aadhaar and PAN (DT Next).
Sellers misuse copies too: in Sambalpur, police say three people made extra SIMs on customers' ID papers and sold them for cybercrime (PTI).
4. Mule accounts
Scam money lands in a bank account opened with someone's KYC, then rented out, sold or opened by insiders. The RBI's KYC rules require banks to watch for these accounts and report them.
Source: Ministry of Home Affairs replies to Parliament, via PTI (July 2025), Free Press Journal (February 2026) and PIB (August 2026)
These "Layer 1" accounts, the first to receive victims' money, are shared with the government's Suspect Registry (PTI, Free Press Journal, PIB). An RBI-backed system in 26 banks now finds about 20,000 a month (KPMG and FICCI).
- 63 Aadhaar, 60 PANcards seized, collected from daily-wage workers promised loans
- 37 accountsopened at two branches of a private bank, without the holders visiting
- 99 complaintsfrom across India linked to them
- Rs 7.36 crorecredited, part turned into crypto
- 6 arrestedincluding a bank branch manager
Source: Delhi Police, via Moneycontrol, 23 October 2026
The case was reported by Moneycontrol.
5. Fingerprint cloning
Aadhaar-enabled payments (AePS) let people withdraw cash at a local agent with a fingerprint, with no OTP. Here is how fraudsters abuse that:
- They download property papers that carry thumb impressions from a state portal.
- They copy the prints onto silicone.
- At an AePS agent or micro ATM, the fake thumb withdraws cash from the victim's account.
That is what two men arrested in Bengaluru in 2023 did (Deccan Herald). India publishes no count of AePS frauds, but the RBI has acknowledged them, and since January 2026 banks must check the KYC of every AePS agent and monitor their transactions (RBI). The free fix is to lock your Aadhaar biometrics on myAadhaar.
Does a source check help?
| Scam | Source check | What else works |
|---|---|---|
| Forged ID documents | Yes | Check the signed QR or the issuer's record |
| Real cards on false papers | Partly | Cross-check tax, provident fund and education records |
| Misused copies | Yes | Share verified results, not copies |
| Mule accounts | Partly | In-person KYC and account monitoring |
| Fingerprint cloning | No | Lock Aadhaar biometrics |
What to do
- Share a masked Aadhaar or a verified result instead of a full copy.
- Check the mobile connections in your name on Sanchar Saathi, and report any that aren't yours.
- If money has gone, call 1930 or report on cybercrime.gov.in.
TheRollNumber builds checks around the source. In ADi Wallet, Aadhaar is re-validated with a fresh OTP the person enters on each request, and verifiers see only the last 4 digits and the result. On Checkkbox, employers run identity, education, employment and court record checks with the candidate's consent. To see how this fits your onboarding or hiring, book a demo.
Sources
- Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Communications), "DoT and SEBI Sign MoU to Strengthen Fight Against Telecom-Linked Financial Frauds", April 2026
- ThePrint (ANI), "Govt deactivates 2.5 crore Aadhar numbers of deceased individuals to avoid fraud", February 2026
- Free Press Journal (IANS), cyber racket busted in Delhi for selling fake Aadhaar and PAN online, July 2026
- ThePrint (PTI), "Illegal Aadhaar card enrolment racket busted in Rajasthan's Hanumangarh; 1 held", April 2026
- LiveLaw, "Rajasthan High Court Denies Bail To Government Officials Accused Of Facilitating Fake Aadhaar Cards", October 2026
- Business Standard, new UIDAI norms for Aadhaar enrolment and verification, July 2025
- Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Communications), Sanchar Saathi release, December 2025
- Outlook Money (PTI), "Govt Detects 489 Fake GST Registrations Involving Forged PAN, Aadhaar In Apr-Oct", December 2025
- IBTimes (IANS), "Over 100 people arrested for fake GST registrations in 2 fiscal years", August 2025
- DT Next, "Elderly TN woman's Aadhaar, PAN misused in Rs 2.53 crore GST fraud", September 2026
- ThePrint (PTI), "Fake SIM card racket busted in Odisha; 3 held", September 2026
- Reserve Bank of India, "Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks – Know Your Customer) Directions, 2025", updated as on 1 October 2026
- Outlook Money (PTI), "Cyber Fraud Cases Surge in 2024; Citizens Lost Rs 22,845 Crore, Says Govt", July 2025
- Free Press Journal, "Over 24 Lakh Cyber Complaints, ₹22,495 Crore Fraud Reported In 2025", February 2026
- Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Home Affairs), "Misleading Mobile Applications", August 2026
- KPMG in India and FICCI, "Next-Gen Forensic: The new age of fraud investigation", June 2026
- Moneycontrol, "Rs 7.36 crore, 99 cyber fraud cases: Delhi Police busts fake KYC mule account network with bank insiders", October 2026
- Deccan Herald, Aadhaar biometric scam arrests in Bengaluru, November 2023
- Reserve Bank of India, "Aadhaar Enabled Payment System – Due Diligence of AePS Touchpoint Operators", June 2025
- UIDAI, "My Aadhaar", accessed October 2026
- Department of Telecommunications, "Sanchar Saathi", accessed October 2026
- National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, accessed October 2026
