Banks, utility companies work to prevent scammers from stealing customers' faces, creating accounts

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Many consumers may use facial recognition to open an account or verify their identities, but now the ABC7 Chicago I-Team is finding that the technology is being targeted by scammers to open accounts in their names.

The technology is designed to protect consumers. Now, thieves are using artificial intelligence to fake consumers' faces. But companies are working to fight that "face fraud."

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Bad actors can now use a picture from social media or a license and combine it with AI to put a face over their face. Then, they can open an account using the image and a phone camera.

"Fraudsters can generate a fake identity of things, disguise a new identity, a new image of a person, and then indicate that into the system. So, instead of using the picture being taken by the camera of your smartphone, then they try to inject a different video into the system," Veridas Chief Technology Officer Javier San Agustin said.

Veridas is one company that's using AI to stop scammers who are trying to open "fraudulent face" accounts.

"We have models that detect cases where those images don't correspond to a real person and are not being captured with a camera. So, that's one area where we have a layer of security. But it's not only that. We also ensure that the device that is being used to capture those pictures and videos is, its integrity, is secure," San Agustin said. "So, this is one of my colleagues who has recorded a video of himself, and has overlaid a deepfake using a picture of me. So, this is not the real me. It's a combination of all of his head movements and then my face on top of it. So, it's a deepfake."

Quick Tip: How to avoid falling for a tariff scam

Veridas says its technology, which monitors head movements, can catch the ruse, and stops the fraudster from opening the account.

"What we get here is a notification, an alert, saying, 'hey, we detected the possible injection attack,' and then the process has been rejected," San Agustin said.

The company and others like it don't sell their technology to consumers. It's purchased by banks and utility companies to help them fight the face fraud.

Make sure to hold on tight to your passport and license, and never post those pictures online.

Also monitor your credit in case someone tries to open an account in your name.

Make sure to shred documents with your social security number and other personal information.