Selfies with the “Peace” Sign Are Leaking Your Fingerprints

The common habit of flashing two fingers at the camera when taking selfies has turned into a direct threat to your wallet. Cybersecurity experts warn that modern high-resolution smartphone cameras paired with AI tools allow scammers to fully reconstruct a person's biometric data from ordinary social media photos.

If a photo is shot under good lighting conditions and from a distance closer than 1.5 meters, fingerprints can be cloned with 100% accuracy. At a distance of up to 3 meters, fraudsters are still capable of recovering about half of the data. 

Scammers use the harvested fingerprints to breach devices, banking apps, and smart locks, bypassing Touch ID and other biometric security systems. To protect your accounts, experts recommend either avoiding close-up photos of your palms or using photo editors to blur your fingertips.