Portuguese 
English 
Spanish 
4 min of reading 
0 comments 
Even With New Rules and Million-Dollar Fines, Phone Scams Continue to Grow in Brazil With the Use of Spoofing and Prepaid Chips
Phone scams continue to scare Brazilians. Even with attempts to control, criminals keep using prepaid chips and online calling sites to deceive victims. In 2023, there were over 4,500 attempts per hour.
Anatel admits that the operators cannot contain this advance and that the crime is already operating in another “stage of technological evolution.”
Phone Scams and Spoofing
Scammers use two routes to make calls: prepaid chips activated with third-party data or websites that allow calls over the internet.
-
With over 120 meters and linked to the co-founder of Google, a giant rigid airship has returned to the skies of the United States almost 90 years after the great zeppelins to resurrect a forgotten technology and transport cargo where regular airplanes cannot reach.
-
Impactful video reveals the tranquility of the women-only carriage in the Rio Metro and opens debate on safety and equality in public transportation.
-
It looks like China or Europe, but it’s in Brazil: a circular hotel in João Pessoa draws attention on the beachfront with 170 apartments, a tropical courtyard, swimming pools, and views of the sea or internal gardens.
-
Mystery of the Mary Celeste, the ghost ship of 1872, may finally have been unraveled by science with a new chemical hypothesis
With these tools, the criminal hides and makes identification difficult. In many cases, they use social engineering techniques to induce the victim to make a Pix or install remote access programs.
One of the most powerful weapons is “spoofing.” This technique allows simulating any phone number. Thus, the name of a bank, a famous store, or even a number similar to that of the victim may appear on the screen, lending credibility to the scam. This increases the chance that the person will believe and fall into the trap.
Difficulties for Anatel
Anatel recognizes that it is difficult to combat the malicious use of spoofing. Although legal in some contexts, the practice has been used improperly.
The agency states that the diversity of networks and the large number of providers hamper control. Nevertheless, it promises a new technology that will allow clearer identification of who is making the call.
To try to curb the use of chips by scammers, Anatel imposed new rules since 2021. Now, one must send a selfie, an ID with a photo, full name, and complete address to activate a prepaid line.
The idea is to prevent criminals from activating multiple chips at once. Even so, there are flaws. There are still CPF numbers with more than 300 active lines, which would not be possible with an effective system.
Scam Centers and Difficulties for Telecoms
Scammers set up scam centers with dozens of chips. They use the lines until they are blocked, and then they discard them. Eduardo Tude, president of the consultancy Teleco, states that chips are used alternately precisely to avoid tracking.
The operators — Vivo, Claro, and Tim — claim that they follow Anatel’s guidelines. Through Conexis, the union representing the sector, they stated that they have already blocked 210 billion unwanted calls, including spam and malicious calls.
Anatel’s most recent rule, from 2024, requires operators to track calls and suspend services of those who allow number changes.
These calls must be reported, with data such as corporate name, CNPJ, time, and volume of calls made. According to Conexis, the measure has started to yield results.
Flawed Facial Verification
Despite the selfie requirement, experts point out that facial verification is still weak. Hiago Kin, president of Abraseci, states that the systems are programmed to easily approve registrations without strong technical requirements.
He also points out that Anatel does not establish a minimum security standard, allowing each operator to choose how to apply the verification.
Additionally, when the customer does not send the data, it is still possible to activate a line through other means, such as going to a store or sending another type of document. This shows that, even with the rules, there are still ways to circumvent the system.
Prepaids Remain a Weak Spot
The ease of enabling prepaid chips continues to be one of the main problems. The original proposal of the model is to be accessible to all, but this also opened gaps.
According to Tude, there is not always use of “straw men.” In many cases, the purchase is made in the name of an innocent person, without their knowledge.
For him, only with robust systems that validate data in real-time and immediately block suspicious registrations can the problem be effectively addressed.
Control Is Still Limited
Even with R$ 58 million in fines imposed on operators for registration failures, Anatel admits that the measures do not keep pace with the advancement of scams.
The current mechanisms are insufficient to prevent more sophisticated fraud. Without technical improvements and stricter standardizations, criminals continue to have the upper hand in the game.
Despite the advances, Brazil still grapples with the illegal use of chips and online calls for scams. The challenge remains to make the system more secure without losing accessibility. Anatel promises new solutions but acknowledges that the fight against spoofing and scams is far from over.
With information from UOL.
-
-
2 people reacted to this.