Identity Fraud Stopped Thanks to ABBYY FineReader Engine

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Identity Fraud Stopped Thanks to ABBYY FineReader Engine

From 2005 on, fraud with identity documents is going to be a costly problem to Dutch employers. Both the Dutch Labor Inspectorate and the tax department are performing increasingly rigorous inspections. Temporary employment agencies, financial institutions, rental companies and telecom shops are confronted with labourers who present illegal documents, causing enterprises to risk fines of up to € 8000. ABBYY's advanced technology can now help employers to combat this fraud.

Challenge: Identity fraud - a huge cost for the Dutch Government

Identity fraud is on the rise throughout the world; in 2004 10,000 counterfeit documents were intercepted in the Netherlands by the Dutch Labor Inspectorate. Since 1st January 2005, regulations relating to the obligation to carry ID papers have become stricter for employers and financial service providers. In addition, the government is attempting to prevent identity fraud in applications for social security numbers and social benefits. In the first half of 2005, the Dutch Labor Inspectorate issued fines to one quarter of all 4,300 companies inspected. For industries such as hospitality, car rental and airlines, passport counterfeiting may lead to considerable financial damages or even criminal proceedings.

Employers have the responsibility to comply with current legislation concerning the obligation to carry ID papers. However, they often do not have the tools to accurately inspect identification cards. If in doubt, they can only direct themselves to the National Document Agency of the Royal Military Police. Icontact, a full-service product developer and advisor in the area of digital media, was commissioned by Keesing Reference Systems to develop an application that would enable employers to reduce the hours spent inspecting identification cards as much as possible, thus saving them time, money and problems. ABBYY's OCR technology proved out to be a crucial component in this process.

Solution: FineReader Engine helps recognizing the fraud

Icontact developed an efficient and accurate online Web service, Keesing Documentscan, with which identity cards can be inspected fully, automatically and swiftly. This unique online service combines advanced analysis software with the world's largest online reference database comprised of identity documents and a secure document management system. The verification service is a secured Web application used for real-time inspections of passports or identity cards. Subsequent to a few inspection queries and scanning of the identity card, all machine readable data on the identity card is read in a matter of seconds. In addition, the program inspects the machine readable zone at the bottom of the document. In the event of doubt or a faulty 'code' being detected, a warning is immediately sent to the Military Police.

ABBYY FineReader Engine was been integrated into the Keesing Documentscan for reading the identity cards. This professional application provides outstanding accuracy when transforming a large number of file types and scanned documents, such as contracts, faxes, and, in this instance, passports and identification papers. The only requirements in the use of Keesing Documentscan are a scanner and an internet connection. The Documentscan is applicable to all common scanners dated after 2003.

Benefits: No risks and no fines to pay

Huub van de Pol, project leader at Icontact says: "In the period leading up to the development phase of the Keesing Documentscan, we tested various OCR suites, concentrating particularly on abilities such as speed and quality of the scan. FineReader Engine not only satisfied these two prerequisites, it also offered an excellent software development kit, which made the implementation of our own product options easier and faster."

Van de Pol explains how accurate the data can be obtained from the scan: "The intelligent approach of ABBYY FineReader selectively applies the optimal combination of algorithms for recognition and adaptations for preprocessing. These are based on the quality and key features of every document. Then, the scan, personal data, and an automatic report are stored in a database where it is only accessible to the employer. In this manner, the application also assures that, in the event of an inspection by the Labor Inspectorate, an expedient and easy-reference insight in the employers' administration is provided."

Since the implementation of the solution in September 2005, 3.5% of identity cards or security documents have been detected as false. So far about 20 firms worldwide are using this solution.

About Keesing Documentscan
Keesing Document Scan was developed for all enterprises and institutions where identification papers have to be inspected on a regular basis, such as temporary employment agencies, rental companies, telecom shops, customer card organizations, as well as airlines, hotels, banks, hospitals, and insurance companies. Every firm that used to send copies of identity cards to the Dutch Military Police in the event of doubt is enabled by Keesing Documentscan to streamline and integrate this processing in their own business processes. Keesing Reference Systems' customers set is predominantly comprised of financial institutions, government agencies, security printers, temporary employment agencies, and airlines (La Poste, Deutscher Sparkassen Verlag, Bundesdruckerei, ABN Amro Bank, Rabobank, and Banco Popular).
Icontact B.V.
A. Hofmanweg 5a
2031 BH Haarlem
The Netherlands
023-7505125
www.icontact.nl