Sleeping Chinese man robbed of US$1,800 as smartphone’s facial recognition system is caught napping
- Roommates unlock handset and transfer funds even though victim’s eyes are tight shut
- Police identify suspects, retrieve stolen money, but unimpressed with ‘unreliable’ security system
A facial recognition system failed to protect a Chinese man from a pair of sneak thieves who managed to unlock his phone while he was sleeping and steal his life savings of more 12,000 yuan (US$1,800), according to a local television news report.
The man from Zhejiang province, identified only as Yuan, contacted the police on Tuesday after noticing the money had disappeared from his bank account, the report said.
Following an investigation, officers charged Yuan’s two roommates with the theft, saying they unlocked the phone while the victim was sleeping and used WeChat Pay to transfer the funds to their own accounts. The stolen cash was later returned to Yuan.
The report did not name the brand of phone, but an unnamed police officer said it cost about 1,000 yuan.
“It seems the facial recognition feature on Yuan’s phone isn’t very reliable,” he said. “We conducted our own tests and found you could unlock it even with the eyes closed.”
Many smartphones are fitted with a facial recognition system as a security device, but not all require iris scanning, so they can be unlocked more easily.