Brazil Reports 520,000 Banking Frauds in 2024, R$10.1 Billion Losses, WhatsApp and Caixa Tem Scams Lead
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In 2024, Brazil recorded over 520,000 complaints of banking fraud, with losses reaching R$10.1 billion, according to the Federação Brasileira de Bancos (Febraban). The most reported scams were WhatsApp account cloning (153,000 complaints), false sales (150,000), and impersonation of bank employees or call centers (105,000). Fraud attempts grew 17% compared to the previous year.
Other common schemes included phishing, fake investment offers, card swapping, counterfeit boletos, fraudulent loan refunds, remote access scams ('mão fantasma'), and the 'motoboy' scam. Febraban advises enabling two-step verification on WhatsApp, not sharing personal or financial information via phone or links, and verifying payment details before transactions.
Banks invested about R$5 billion in security and public awareness. A major case involved the Caixa Tem app, with the Federal Police deploying 80 officers and executing 23 search warrants in Rio de Janeiro to dismantle a group that diverted nearly R$2 billion from government benefit accounts. Since April 2020, Caixa has registered about 749,000 disputes over suspicious transactions.
In São Paulo, a criminal group posing as a financial institution caused losses exceeding R$2 million, leading to four arrests and six search and seizure orders. Authorities stress that legitimate banks do not request refunds via Pix or messaging apps and urge consumers to confirm requests through official channels.
Internationally, Poland reported over 15,000 fraud cases and €64 million in losses in six months, with scams often involving social engineering. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission reported $470 million lost to text message scams in 2024, five times higher than in 2020, with fake package deliveries and job offers being the most frequent.
DIGITAL SCAMS | WhatsApp, false sales, and fake central scams were the main traps applied to bank clients last year, according to the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban).
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