Brazil Police Arrest Four in Multistate Deepfake Fraud Ring, Freeze Up to R$210 Million

Overview

• Operation Modo Selva executed 26 court orders across Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Bahia, and Pernambuco, including nine searches and seven preventive arrest warrants.
• Four suspects were detained in Canoas, Piracicaba, and Hortolândia, and police identified alleged leaders Lucas Tiago Oliveira de Cerqueira and Levi Andrade da Silva Luz.
• The scheme used deepfake endorsements of Gisele Bündchen, Angélica, Juliette, Maísa, and Sabrina Sato to drive victims to spoofed sites where PIX payments for “freight” typically ranged from R$20 to R$100.
• Investigators report more than R$20 million flowed through the network in six months, with laundering via shell companies and “laranja” accounts and a social media “mentorship” to train new scammers.
• Courts ordered seizures of vehicles and blocks on bank and crypto accounts, and authorities said blocked amounts could reach about R$210 million as the probe maps the broader operation.