A mega leak of photos of Brazilians – supposedly originating from police databases – is being offered for free on a forum in the Deep Web. There are over 300 thousand images in the package available for download – identified on Monday night by experts from Solo Iron – a cybersecurity unit of Solo Network, one of the largest Brazilian IT integrators.
To access the forum, credits that can be purchased are necessary. By accessing the forum and using these credits, it is possible to download the photos for free,” explains Felipe Guimarães, Head of the Cybersecurity Team at Solo Iron. Some images purportedly may have originated from the Civil Police of Espírito Santo – and many seem to be of individuals supposedly booked. However, thousands of photos have the format of images used in Brazilian documents, allowing their use in criminal actions. The origin of the images has not been confirmed at this time.
The photos can be used by criminals to attempt creating fake bank accounts and making fraudulent credit requests, and can also facilitate advanced frauds involving the creation of deepfakes.
Companies on alert
Guimarães explains that the leakage can trigger a significant increase in financial frauds, as criminals have access to potential data that enables the creation of fake profiles with authentic appearance and the creation of deepfakes. “We recommend that companies – especially in the financial sector – increase their alert level in the coming days due to the potential for fraud, and because the images are being distributed for free, further enhancing the possible volume of fraud attempts,” he states.
It is not only companies that should stay alert. Consumers should also pay attention to suspicious communications from financial institutions – especially those requesting data confirmation, whether by email or phone. “It’s not difficult, using image search, to find preliminary data about the photo owner, such as name, social media links, age, email, among others. Therefore, in case of any suspicious contact, the consumer should contact the financial institution, or consumer protection agencies,” says Guimarães.
According to studies by Solo Iron, Brazil is a country with unique characteristics when it comes to cybercrime. Local groups – focusing on financial frauds – have at their disposal on the dark web a series of tools for fraud against individuals, from credit card usage to PIX. These criminals have been working alongside global actors, carrying out financial extortion against Brazilian companies, mainly using ransomware and data kidnapping.
