Identity fraud in Brazil rises 32.9%: 2.8 million attempts in six months
Brazil recorded 2.8 million identity fraud attempts in the first half, one every 5.5 seconds, a 32.9% increase from 2025.
Brazil sets record for identity fraud in first half
Brazil recorded 2.8 million identity fraud attempts in the first half of this year, equivalent to one attempt every 5.5 seconds. The data, released by the Serasa Experian Fraud Map and reported by extra.globo.com, indicate an increase of 32.9% compared with the same period in 2025.
The survey considered attempts detected during account registration and identity validation processes — situations in which someone attempts to impersonate another person or uses documents and information belonging to third parties to open accounts, request credit or access services.
Digital expansion drives sophistication of scams
Leandro Bartolassi, director of Authentication and Fraud Prevention at Serasa Experian, attributes the growth to a combination of accelerated digitalisation of services and improvements in the tools used by fraudsters.
"Today, more stages of our lives happen digitally, from opening an account to contracting services. At the same time, fraudsters are also more organised and have access to technologies that allow them to create more convincing approaches and exploit data obtained through different means," he said.
Retail leads sector growth; financial sector concentrates incidents
In comparison with the first half of 2025, the retail sector recorded the largest proportional growth in attempts: a rise of 120.7%. Telecommunications advanced 51.4% and the services sector 40.2%.
Nevertheless, the financial sector remained the most targeted by absolute volume. The payment methods, banks and credit card and finance segments together accounted for 61.1% of the total attempts identified in the period.
Valentine's Day with highest risk rate
Among the commemorative dates analysed, Valentine's Day presented the highest risk rate: 22.2% above the half-year average. This means that, for every hundred identity validations carried out on that date, more than two showed signs of fraud attempts — a rate of 2.42%. Mother's Day came in second place, with a rate 11.6% above the half-year average, followed by New Year, with an increase of 5.1%.
Consequences extend beyond financial loss
Rafael Garcia, Fraud Prevention consultant at FICO, warns that identity fraud is "silent by nature" and that its effects extend over time.
"The victim can have their name marked negatively for debts they did not incur, face difficulty obtaining their own credit and go through a lengthy contestation process with institutions," he said.
Southeast concentrates attempts; Northeast leads growth
By region, the Southeast concentrated 21.7% of attempts in the half-year, followed by the Northeast with 16.3%. The remaining regions recorded less than 10% each. All, however, showed an increase compared with the same period in 2025. The largest advance was in the Northeast (14%), followed by the Southeast (13.8%).
Generation Z most affected
Generation Z — people aged between 14 and 29 — recorded the largest volume of incidents: approximately 505,000 cases in the half-year, an increase of 27.3% compared with the same period in 2025.
Flavio Correa, Security Engineering leader at Cisco Brasil, assesses that digital behaviour patterns characteristic of this age group contribute to greater risk.
"Despite their familiarity with technology, they prioritise immediate convenience and show greater tendency to use the same password across multiple services, download applications from non-official sources, interact with promotions on social media and fall for offers of quick income or vouchers," he said.
Warning signs and main scams
Bartolassi lists the signs that may indicate misuse of identity: charges for products or services not contracted, accounts or cards not requested, unexpected changes in credit history or score, communications from companies with which the consumer never had a relationship and unexpected difficulties when attempting to obtain credit.
Among the most common scam methods identified by the study, three stand out:
Lookalike scam: fraudsters use technology to compare their own image with different legitimate identities in search of the person most likely to pass biometric validation. The recommended protection is not to share photos of documents or selfies with documents, provide personal data and biometrics only through official channels, be suspicious of unexpected facial recognition requests and regularly monitor your CPF.
Fake call centre: a criminal calls pretending to be a bank employee, reports a suspicious purchase and requests passwords, transfers or installation of applications. The instruction is to hang up immediately — no bank makes such requests — and call the official number of the institution.
Phishing and fake pages: the scammer sends an email, SMS or message impersonating a known company to induce the victim to provide their CPF, password or banking data. The recommendation is not to click on received links and access the company directly through the official application or by typing the address into the browser.
Source: Google News BR — Crime