Report: Chinese government-run facial recognition system hacked by tax fraudsters

A group of tax scammers hacked a government-run identity verification system to fake tax invoices. The fake tax invoices from the criminal group were valued at US$76.2mil. — SCMP

Identity verification using facial recognition is widely adopted in China, as the technology has become an integral part of apps from mobile payments and travel to retail, as well as surveillance systems and online platforms for government services.

That development, however, has made cybersecurity a major issue in the world’s second-largest economy, where a group of tax scammers has been caught hacking a government-run facial recognition system to fake tax invoices and make millions of yuan in the process, according to a report by the Xinhua Daily Telegraph. Invoices issued by the State Taxation Administration are used to track payments and help crack down on tax evasion.