Biometric identity verification company iProov has reported a growing wave of attacks targeting banks, crypto platforms, and payment services across Asia-Pacific, North America, and EMEA. The company linked the activity to a group known as “Grey Nickel,” which has been active since July 2023.
During a recent investigation by the iProov Security Operations Center (iSOC), analysts observed that “Grey Nickel” is focusing on bypassing Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, which are standard across financial services. These attacks rely on sophisticated tools that go beyond simple presentation attacks, using digital injection and AI-driven media to fool basic verification systems.
“It is important to understand that these aren’t opportunistic attacks; they represent highly coordinated, specialized operations that pose an existential threat to the digital transformation of banking,” said Dr. Andrew Newell, chief scientific officer of iProov.
The investigation uncovered multiple threat groups using advanced tactics:
Face-swap and injection attacks
“Grey Nickel” uses face-swap technology, metadata manipulation, and injected video feeds to trick verification systems, particularly those relying on single-frame liveness detection.
Separate criminal groups are creating apps for Android and iOS that can inject pre-recorded or altered video during identity checks. Some now include lip-syncing features to defeat voice challenges.
Some criminals offer packages that combine stolen ID data with AI-generated video to create “synthetic identities.” These services are marketed to fraudsters targeting crypto exchanges and online payment platforms.
Online forums are now sharing tips and tools that use commercial AI to generate deepfakes meant to fool outdated verification systems.
iProov warned that many financial institutions still rely on basic liveness detection that is no longer effective against these newer attack methods.
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