Digitized Document Fraud Detection and Fixing

In our daily life, we still depend on printed documents like judicial papers, currency notes, certificates, bank cheques, property papers, security documents, licenses etc. As these sensitive documents play a very important role, criminals very often indulge in producing counterfeit version of such documents for unlawful and malicious gain. Modern technology has enabled the easy conversion of the hardcopy of the documents to digitized form. With the help of cheap and sophisticated scanning technology or digital camera, such digitization can be achieved. For the documents, scanners are preferred as the capturing can be done in a controlled manner. Thus, in the modern system, the documents can be archived in the digitized form and copies can be generated as and when required through the computerized system.

Furthermore, the digital printing technology has enabled the generation of documents maintaining the desired level of quality. Thus, the advent of digital scanning and printing technology has rendered an easy and safe way for generating fake documents. Once a hardcopy of a target document is available, it can be captured through scanner, tampered using image processing software and printed. As a result, frequency of the occurrences of fake stamp paper, scorecard, licenses, currency etc. has risen significantly. Such malpractices are referred as Digitized Document Frauds (DDF)

Current process of detecting counterfeiting requires an expert to manually use sophisticated hardware tool viz. Video Spectral Comparator and/ or Microscopes which are slow and their efficiency is limited by many constraints and on the other hand chemical analysis of paper and ink is destructive in nature. There is no standard procedure for linking the questioned counterfeit document to its source.

In this light, the first objective of our research work funded by Department of Information Technology, is to develop an efficient, portable, non-destructive automated system for tackling digitized document frauds (including counterfeit currency) in forensic context. This will be achieved by developing a new methodology for efficiently detecting a fraudulent document and then linking this fraudulently generated document to scanning/ printing device (including printing press, color laser printers and/ or color inkjet printers and/ or color photocopying machines and/ or scanners) in a closed set of suspect devices. 

The second objective of the study is to identify suitable parameters from magnified image of document under question using high quality microscopes, Scanning electron microscopes and or VSC 5000, VSC 6000 and hand held microscopes which can be quantified using image processing techniques.

Next objective is to test large number of commonly used documents including currency notes to identify robust features, which are independent of a manufacturer rather, will depend on the defects present in each device.

The basis of this proposed research work is that the scanning and or printing devices are made perfect only for naked eyes but when a magnifying device is used to investigate defect specific to each device (device fingerprint) is unique and these defects are quantifiable, which can be used to develop an automated system for tackling DDF. This is useful for law enforcement agencies as the automated tool will provide potential evidence to be used in Court of Law.

We are also conducting study of available security features present in documents to identify suitable parameters, which will also be used to develop an automated tool to assist investigative agencies to detect and fix digitized document frauds (DDF) to its source in forensic context. There is an urgent need of develop a method for detecting digitized document fraud and then linking it to its origin in forensic context to minimize the negative consequences on society and the economy.