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BRAZIL
#12 Sumsub
FRAUD TYPES
Banking trojans, Pix fraud, fintech exploitation, card fraud, ransomware victim
KEY FACTS
128 ransomware attacks in 2025 — #1 in Latin America. Social engineering up 155% (BioCatch). The Grandoreiro banking trojan has been exported abroad.
REPORT FRAUD IN BRAZIL2▸
2 agencies you can contact. Tap one for how to reach it and what to have ready.
PFCPolicia Federal Cybercrime▸
NATIONAL · CYBER / CRYPTO
CVMCVM Securities Commission▸
NATIONAL · FINANCIAL REGULATION
BORN HERE1▸
1 person in our case files was born in Brazil. Tap to open the report.
OPERATED HERE4▸
Physically based or working in Brazil — lived, ran an office, met victims or was stationed here, per the record. Hacking a target here does not count.
Goiânia, Brazil
WHAT THEY DID HERE, AND WHEN
30 Dec 2021Arrested on an Interpol warrant carrying false identity papers; later under house arrest fighting extradition.SOURCE: Moneyweb; News24
22 Apr 2024Dies of a pulmonary embolism, per his death certificate; South Africa's Hawks investigate whether the death is genuine.SOURCE: Moneyweb; News24
São Paulo and Salvador, Brazil
WHAT THEY DID HERE, AND WHEN
2009–2015As CEO, oversees the company whose Division of Structured Operations paid ~$788M in bribes across 12 countries.SOURCE: DOJ plea, 21 Dec 2016 (company admission)
19 June 2015Arrested in Operation Car Wash; sentenced in Curitiba to 19 years 4 months in March 2016.SOURCE: Federal court, Curitiba
São Paulo, Brazil
WHAT THEY DID HERE, AND WHEN
1995–1998Banco Noroeste's director Nelson Sakaguchi pays for a share of an airport that was never going to be built.SOURCE: Case 021
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
WHAT THEY DID HERE, AND WHEN
1939–1949After deportation to Italy, works for an Italian airline in Rio; dies there in 1949 with about $75.SOURCE: case brief
OUR CASES BY CATEGORY▸
Share of the 4 cases tied to Brazil (born or operated here)
FRAUD METHODS TIED HERE10▸
From the Global Fraud Encyclopedia and the cases above. Tap a method for its page.
#4 Ponzi Schemeused in our cases ▸#7 Money Launderingused in our cases ▸#20 Wire Fraudused in our cases ▸#21 Advance Fee Fraud (419 Scam)used in our cases ▸#29 Pyramid Scheme / MLM Fraudused in our cases ▸#39 Banking TrojanEncyclopedia ▸#41 Forex Fraudused in our cases ▸#44 Bribery / Corruptionused in our cases ▸#80 Elder Financial AbuseEncyclopedia ▸#83 Shell Company Fraudused in our cases ▸KNOWN FOR▸
THE PICTURE▸
Brazil has one of the world's highest volumes of recorded fraud: police registered about 2.2 million estelionato (fraud) cases in 2024, a 408% rise since 2018, including at least 281,200 electronic frauds (Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública, Anuário 2025). Much of the growth is tied to Pix instant-payment scams, fake-bank-agent calls, WhatsApp impersonation and phishing. Brazil was also the centre of Operation Lava Jato, which exposed the Odebrecht bribery network across Latin America (US DOJ, 2016), and of large pyramid schemes such as TelexFree. Enforcement falls to the Federal Police, state civil police, the Central Bank (Pix security rules, the MED refund mechanism) and the CVM securities regulator.
TOP FRAUDSTERS FROM HERE2▸
Odebrecht S.A. PLEADED GUILTYREPORT PENDING
At least $3.5B (combined US/Brazil/Swiss penalties, Odebrecht and Braskem) · 2001–2016
Construction group that ran a dedicated bribery department paying officials across Latin America and Africa; pleaded guilty in the US with petrochemical affiliate Braskem.
SOURCE: US DOJ, Dec 2016
Carlos Wanzeler FUGITIVEREPORT PENDING
About $3B scheme (alleged by US prosecutors) · 2012–2014
Brazilian co-founder of TelexFree, a VoIP 'advertising' business US prosecutors say was a pyramid scheme with most participants in Brazil and the US; fled to Brazil after being charged.
SOURCE: US DOJ (District of Massachusetts), 2014
FRAUD BY CATEGORY▸
No official body here publishes a breakdown of fraud by type, so we show none rather than guess.
KEY NUMBERS▸
~2.2 million Estelionato (fraud) cases registered by police in 2024 (Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública, Anuário 2025 (Jul 2025))
+408% Growth in registered fraud cases, 2018–2024 (FBSP, Anuário 2025)
281,200+ Electronic fraud cases in 2024 (+17%; São Paulo, Rio and Ceará do not report this category) (FBSP, Anuário 2025)
WHO FIGHTS IT▸
Federal Police and state civil police investigate fraud; Law 14.155/2021 raised penalties for electronic fraud (estelionato eletrônico).
Banco Central do Brasil runs Pix security rules and the MED special-return mechanism for Pix scam refunds.
Operation Lava Jato (2014–2021) prosecuted Petrobras/Odebrecht bribery, though many convictions were later annulled by the Supreme Court.
CVM (securities regulator) issues stop orders against unlicensed investment and crypto offers.
SOURCES▸
Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública, Anuário Brasileiro de Segurança Pública 2025, Jul 2025
CNN Brasil, 24 Jul 2025
Agência Lupa, 24 Jul 2025
US DOJ, Odebrecht and Braskem plea, 21 Dec 2016
US DOJ (D. Mass.), TelexFree indictments, 2014
Case lists and figures compiled September 2026 from court records, regulators and major press; statuses change. Series reports above are fact-checked case files.