Millions of valuable documents worldwide are currently checked on security features like UV re-action, watermark, MRZ (machine readable zone), infra-red reaction, etc. However due to quickly changing and improving technologies it becomes more easy to counterfeit these features, so a lot ID-document counterfeits remain undetected.
Questioned document examination is a forensic science discipline related to documents, providing evidence about questionable documents. These can be examined for evidence of alterations, obliterations, erasures and page substitutions. Due to the widespread use of printing machines for document forgery, printed document examination is an important issue. The determi¬nation of whether different pages of a document are produced by the same machine is an extreme valua-ble information in a lot of cases and is a frequent requirement.
Manual document analysis requires certificated document specialists so examination costs are very high.
- Current passport scanners are not capable of forensic examination and not always relia-ble. The only measure security features and there are more and more ways for counter-feiers to forge these documents with low-cost equipment.
- Forensic examination (such as what printer is used) is time consuming
- It is not possible to oversee the (counterfeit) documents if were originated on the same source.
- Especially in human smuggling and refugee crisis it is important to know asap where the presented documents are originated, so that can be determined if the documents are au-thentic.
Quick and reliable document fraud detection is of utmost societal interest. Fraudulent identity and security documents are integral prerequisites for the smuggling of migrants, trafficking in persons, terrorist mobility, to facilitate the smuggling of drugs, weapons and other goods, simplifying cross-border crime of all types. Counterfeited or manipulated documents enable opening of a bank ac-count or receiving illegal social insurance benefits. Even if document fraud is detected, prosecu-tion is difficult as manual linkage between counterfeiters by their used printing equipment is very complex.
“Travel document fraud is widely perceived as a serious problem affecting border control and the internal security of the European Union. The verification of the authenticity of travel docu-ments is a key element of border checks and a pre-requisite for efficient border control”. (THE DOCUMENT CHALLENGE II, Frontex, 2014).
ANDRUPOS proactively targets the needs and requirements of national and European users like EUROPOL (European police office), FRONTEX (European agency for the management of oper-ational cooperation at the external borders of the member states of the EU), Criminal Offices, National Police Services, Customs Investigation Bureaus, Financial/Customs. This new examina-tion system is essential to respond to current EU and global challenges in regard to terrorism, ref-ugees and migration.
ANDRUPOS provides a disruptive solution for printed document examination and classification with fast, software-based, highly automated, optical and non-destructive methods: forensic level inspection of printed source and security documents (ID documents, passports, banknotes, con-tracts, ...) leading to an increased reduction in time and effort in the overall examination process up to 50-80%.
By identifying printing characteristics used to generate questioned documents and implementing additional forensic intelligence ANDRUPOS focuses on two challenges: helping to fight and pros-ecute organzed crime as well as improving border security and immigration proceedings.
The main general objectives of the project Andrupos are to ease and drastically reduce inspection effort on forensic document examination and to provide a central database containing information about printing technologies and printers as well as specific information of individual printers.
More specific ojectives of the platform are related to documents examination are:
• Determination of printing characteristics like printing technology and printer
• 1-1 printer / document comparison (also without exactly knowing the used printer model).
• Generation of comprehensible and reliable reports
• Fast comparing of a batch of questioned documents to detect if they all were printed on the same source (e.g. are documents included in a set originals or photocopies)
• Linking of fraud or counterfeit documents immediately worldwide.
ANDRUPOS brings a so far not existing but much needed system of rapid and reliable document inspection especially for second-line checks, based on newest ICT applications with new capa-bilities and services for fighting and preventing crime, illegal trafficking and terrorism and to pro-tect European borders.
