More than half of Brazilians (51%) were the victim of some fraud last year and of these, 54.2% had financial loss. The data are in the 2025 Identity and Fraud Report, released on Tuesday (25) by Serasa Experian-a data technology company that also works in credit analysis, authentication and fraud prevention.
The main type of scam applied was misuse of credit cards (47.9%), followed by payment of fake slips or fraudulent transactions via Pix (32.8%) and phishing, emails or fraudulent messages that induce data theft (21.6%).
877 people between 18 and 65 years old were interviewed in the five regions of the country. The margin of error is 3.4% more or less.
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The survey pointed out that, within the universe of Brazilians who lost money with fraud, most had a loss between $ 100 and $ 1,000.
Damage from interviewees with scams in 2024
| Valor | Total Slice |
| Up to R $ 100 | 17% |
| More than R $ 100 to R $ 500 | 35,5% |
| More than R $ 500 to R $ 1 thousand 12.9% | 12,9% |
| More than $ 1,000 to $ 5,000 | 19,5% |
| More than R $ 5,000 to R $ 20 thousand | 3,7% |
| More than R $ 20 thousand | 3,7% |
| Did not answer: 7.9% | 7,9% |
Among men, 52.5% reported having suffered fraud. Among women, the index is lower, 49.3%.
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The study confirms that the older the age, the greater the proportion of scam victims. In the age group of 18 to 29 years, 40.8% of respondents mentioned that they were victims. From 30 to 49 years, the percentage rises to 51.9%. In the group of people over 50 years old, 57.8% were targeted by criminals.
Technology
Serasa Experian’s research has identified that technology is used to offer more security in transactions and to make fraud more sophisticated.
On the one hand, the use of facial biometrics as a method of authentication increased from 59% to 67% in the passage from 2023 to 2024. Among respondents, 71.8% say they feel more protected when using it.
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On the other hand, the researchers identified the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) “for the creation of highly realistic false profiles, designed to circumvent identity checks with synthetic data, as well as make phishing attacks more sophisticated, with links and fraudulent messages that mimic legitimate communications”.
A criminal tool is the so -called Deepfakes – images created with the use of AI technologies that allow the overlapping of faces and voices in videos, in order to create false images of people in videos.
For Serasa Experian, Caio Rocha’s director of authentication and prevention, it is important for companies to constantly improve fraud prevention technologies, “combining different technologies to reinforce safety and strengthen confidence in digital services throughout consumer journey”.
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Just over a month ago, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban) launched the National Alliance to Combat Bank and Digital Frauds. The initiative aims to act both in prevention and on the repression of scams and online crimes.
Use of documents
According to the survey of Serasa Experian, data loss is one of the ways to start fraud. In 2024, 16.3% of respondents reported that the documents were stolen or lost.
The survey also identified that 19% of respondents admitted to having shared personal data with third parties, “exposing themselves to even higher risks.”
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The reasons for the most cited data sharing were online purchases (73.7%), opening bank accounts (20.4%) and obtaining loans (15.2%).
The study found that, despite being the means in which the most fraud are committed, the credit card is the payment method considered safer by respondents, surpassing the 2023 mark.
Means of payment in which consumers trust the most:
| Means of payment | Confidence in 2023 | Confidence in 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| credit card | 46,3% | 59,5% |
| Pix | 32% | 22,2% |
| Bank slip | 6,7% | 5,5% |
| Digital wallets | 5,6% | 4,9% |
| Debit card | 3,9% | 3,1% |
| None | 5,5% | 4,8% |
