The danger of exchanging signature for selfie in social security contributions – 09/26/2023 – Rômulo Saraiva

If, with the signature requirement, there were already a large number of cases of fraudulent payroll loans in the country, imagine now with the expansion of a new type of remote loan only with validation by a photograph of the retiree. Increasingly, loan signing is being done via telephone call and a simple selfie instead of the traditional signature. In the same way that the signature design was essential to legitimize the desire and, even so, it was distorted, contracting via facial biometrics is not unequivocal proof of the desire to take out a loan.

Insecurity is not facial biometrics itself. On the contrary, each human being has unique facial features that distinguish him from another. There are more than 80 nodal points that a face contains, such as the distance between the eyes, the length of the nose, the curvature of the lips, scars, etc. A person with a big nose, for example, when doing facial biometrics will be sure not to have their nose confused with someone else’s.

The problem is whether that big-nosed person authorized taking on the debt as stated in the contract, considering the amount of the loan, the interest rate, the installment plan, the percentage of the consignable margin, the refinancing, etc. It is not uncommon for a verbal adjustment to be made and the contract to say something completely different. As with signature loan contracts, facial biometrics will be no different. After all, the problems of Brazilians not reading the fine print of the contract are perennial, a situation that is aggravated especially when the deal is done remotely via telephone call, in addition to the fact that the INSS does not strictly control each loan made in Brazil.

Considering the monthly avalanche of loans across the country, the INSS usually adopts the logic of prioritizing intervention in the case when faced with a problem or dispute of fraud. It is cheaper for the municipality to resolve specific cases than to meticulously analyze all loans made nationally.

The subject is also controversial because traditionally the Civil Code establishes that the signature, physical or digital, is a basic element for the consent or authorization necessary for the validity of an act, proving that a certain person has assumed an obligation. The novelty of using the retiree’s photograph instead of the signature brings a great visual appeal, because, although it is also possible to edit and manipulate photographs from social networks, for example, the citizen’s image generates conviction that he really was willing to go into debt.

Whether in a face-to-face negotiation or over the phone, taking a self-portrait as a way of validating a loan is a facility that can increase fraud, as if the number of illegal acts in the traditional way were not enough. It is much easier to find a person’s image on social media or the internet, in order to misuse it, than their signature. Aware of this, cases of fraud in payroll loan contracts using selfies as a central element of discussion are multiplying.

Traditionally, as the National Social Security Institute does not usually faithfully analyze thousands of loans in the country, it is possible for the loan to be made using the biometrics of a completely different person. After the money is released and withdrawn, it will be a long time before the facial discrepancy is discovered. There is also fraud using old selfies. A retiree decides to take a selfie for a legitimate and conscious loan, but that same photo is archived with the bank correspondent or financial institution. Therefore, some gangs are using the old portrait to validate new loans, without the retiree’s knowledge.

Therefore, it is very risky to endorse or verify the loan contract as an expression of the retiree’s will, whether through electronic means or facial biometrics, by sending a “selfie”, especially considering that the INSS does not have time to analyze each contract. Therefore, the way the matter is currently being treated, the reliability that facial biometrics entails ends up not being of much use, because, if the nodal traits are not usually checked, in addition to other security elements that should support the contracts, this will not be of any use. technology as a security argument in loan contracts.

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