The era of low-tech document fraud could be well past the current times. Unfortunately, the cases of document fraud and counterfeits are growing costing businesses around the world trillions of dollars as criminals get more sophisticated in their deception. The cases of forged IDs, certificates, and documents have not slowed down a bit despite the world’s transition to digital document management systems.
According to European-based TrustID, passports, visas, and government IDs are still some of the most forged documents with the number increasing over the course of 2020. While visa fraud dropped over 50% in 2020 (uh, COVID-19 protocols), the number is still alarming and governments could witness a spike in 2020. The proportion of fake passports, which constitutes 44% of the total document forgery and fraud, remained unchanged from 2019 to 2020 but fake ID cards were up by 9% from 2019 to 28% in 2020. This is possibly due to the high unemployment rates recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fortunately, as the criminals up their counterfeit and fraud mechanisms the technology designed to prevent and detect fraud has become more advanced. Top of the list is the introduction and development of blockchain technology solutions aiming to snap out any document fraud in an instant.
Nonetheless, other methods of detection and prevention including the use of microscopic scanners for texture analysis, advanced visual authentication techniques using artificial intelligence (AI), and live identity verification (on spot selfies and pictures) have also been implemented but they still face some deficiencies.
Companies and institutions are now testing out blockchain technologies such as Blockademia to fully prevent document fraud, verify documents and authenticate that each document is the real one.
Disrupting the Document Authentication Market
Blockchain technology offers a solution to the rising cases of document fraud across the world through its immutable and decentralized features. The solution proposed does not suggest storing the actual paper document (or its image) on the blockchain – it would be expensive and inefficient – but rather, only storing the digital proof that a document is verified by a certain institution or government.
This helps to verify the legitimacy of the document and if anyone wants to prove it, they would simply verify it using the proof provided on the blockchain. In short, the blockchain will provide immutability of these proofs while storing the metadata needed to prove that a certificate, identification, passport, or any other document is actually legitimate.
The Blockademia Verification Solution
A blockchain-based document verification solution, Blockademia, is one of the leading solutions companies are testing in preventing and detecting fraud. According to the official website, Blockademia is a decentralized information system for issuing and checking the authenticity of issued diplomas, certificates, contracts, certificates of ownership, insurance policies, state documents, source code, video & music files, and other documents using entries to the Cardano blockchain.
The immutable, public, and decentralized properties of Cardano allow the platform to provide the exact time and date of every entry record. Using these blockchain features, Blockademia ensures the permanence and immutability of the issued entry containing document metadata and subsequent authenticity checks.
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How It Works
Blockademia uses a dual-layer structure where the processes of issuing, verification, and authentication of documents are executed on an isolated part of the application and the blockchain connection on a layer-2, in order to reduce the cost of transactions.
Blockademia has a dual-layer structure where the processes of document issuing and all user processes are executed in an isolated part of the application and the blockchain interaction in another part. This way, cost optimization of the system is achieved. First, the document has to be recorded on the blockchain by the administrator to create the document. Secondly, the document is verified and authenticated on the blockchain.
The issuer of the document uses the application to enter the necessary data to create the document. Once entered, the system generates a unique hash which is stored on the blockchain containing the transaction metadata. To facilitate the entries, Blockademia is launching its native ACI token which will run the platform. Once the issuer enters the data and confirms it, the dApp charges the fee in ACI tokens and writes an entry to the blockchain. The Issuer then receives a QR code which can be used to verify and authenticate the legitimacy of the document.
Verifying the authenticity of a document is done through the web interface or Android/iOS Blockademia application. Verifier enters the data required for the verification through the interface or scans the generated QR code. If the verifier is using the basic version of the application, they can verify documents one by one and the verification is free of charge. For business and enterprise verifiers there is a corporate version of the application which enables advanced options of verification. Businesses use the ACI tokens to pay for verification.
The Future of Verification of Documents
As seen above, blockchain-based verification offers a wide range of advantages over traditional and digital verification including immutability, faster turnaround times, and transparency. It allows institutions around the world to verify and authenticate several documents easily, with each document containing a hash function that cannot be counterfeited without affecting the system.
Moreover, when corporations and institutions use blockchain-powered verification solutions, errors are minimized drastically. Solutions such as Blockcademia help in detecting and preventing fraud and red-flag patterns that could usually escape digital verification or the human eye.
As blockchain solutions are built and improved, document verification will be a click away for any institution, corporation, or individual who needs to check the realness and authentication of certificates, government documents, degrees, or any other document.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
