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Gang Executes New Scam Using PIX (Instant Payment Platform) Causing Losses of Over 10 Million Reais for Town Halls
Criminals took advantage of the immediacy of the digital platform PIX to difficult the tracking of the stolen money. In this scam, most of the victims were town halls in small cities in the southeast, which lost a significant amount of money that would be invested for the benefit of the local population.
How Was the PIX Scam Executed?
To divert money from the town halls, the gang specialized in digital scams used data that was leaked in the first half of 2021. They contacted public servants who had access to the town hall bank accounts and posed as a bank employee. Thus, they were able to convince them that it was necessary to update the account information and sent a fake bank website for them to re-enter the data.
With the town halls’ passwords in hand, the thieves began to make instant transfers to the registered accounts. When the money reached them, it was transferred via PIX to hundreds of other accounts, making tracking them practically impossible. According to delegate Everson Contelli, they also used digital currencies and credit card machines to carry out the diversion.
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Moreover, criminals mock the ease of laundering money in audios found by the police. In the recording, one of them says: “Send the photo via the burler. Photo of the driver’s license, you know? No problem. The thing already shows up right away if it’s approved or not. Limit, card password, everything comes out. Did it arrive? Just call, boom, unlock quickly. Their fraud sector is bad.”
Police Arrest Criminals and Warn Population About the PIX Scam
With great difficulty, the police managed to identify the owners of the bank accounts that received the money stolen from the town halls. On October 18th, 11 of the criminals were arrested, but 3 remain at large.
It is important to remember that anyone is exposed to this type of crime. Do not trust supposed messages from your bank, especially if a link is sent to fill in data. Call the bank through another phone line to verify the legitimacy of the contact.
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