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Scams in Brazil in numbers · Threats with your data

The threat scam: when the criminal has your data

With your or your family's data in hand, the criminal calls or writes with threats and asks for money. Having your data does not prove the threat is real.

19.1%

got a call, message or e-mail with threats from a criminal who had their or their family's data, asking for money

Jul 2024 to Jun 2025 · Source: Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública e Datafolha

27%

of people who got this kind of call ended up transferring money

Jul 2024 to Jun 2025 · Source: Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública e Datafolha

How it works

  1. The criminal gathers your data: name, address, CPF, names of relatives. Much of it comes from leaks.
  2. They call or write quoting that data, to seem to know everything about you.
  3. They threaten you or someone in the family, or say a relative was kidnapped.
  4. They ask for money at once, by Pix.

How to spot it

  • A call from an unknown number quotes your data.
  • The threat comes with a short deadline.
  • They ask you not to hang up and not to talk to anyone.
  • They ask for a Pix to someone else's account.

What to do

  • Hang up. Having your data does not prove the threat is real.
  • Call the relative they named on a number you already had.
  • Do not pay. File a police report and, if there is a risk, call 190.

How Bipe helps

Bipe is made so you know who is on the other side. Not everything is ready: each item shows where it stands on iPhone and Android.

Message requests

People who are not in your contacts arrive as a request. A message from a new number does not land straight in your chat list.

iPhone: In the test app · Android: In development

Scam warnings

A warning shows under a message that looks like a scam, such as a rushed Pix, a new number or a boleto. It is on by default, with nothing to set up.

iPhone: In the test app · Android: In development

Bipe only protects the chats that happen in Bipe. If someone in the family still uses another app, a scammer can write to them there.

Other common scams

Scams in Brazil in numbers

Where these numbers come from

Researched on 12 October 2026. We only use numbers that have a source. Surveys by a company or a private association are marked as such.