Brazilian police operation targets facial alteration fraud on Gov.br platform
Brazilian federal police launched "Operation Face Off" on May 13, 2025, to dismantle a criminal group using advanced facial alteration techniques to bypass biometric authentication and fraudulently access government service accounts on the Gov.br platform. The investigation revealed that suspects manipulated facial features to gain unauthorized control over users' accounts and access sensitive personal data and public services.
What happened
The Polícia Federal initiated Operation Face Off on May 13, 2025, to dismantle a criminal group using advanced facial alteration techniques to defraud accounts on the Gov.br platform. The suspects manipulated facial features to bypass the biometric authentication system.
Reported impact
The fraudulent access allowed criminals to assume full control of users' accounts and access sensitive personal data and public services linked to the Gov.br platform. The Gov.br platform serves as the main gateway to federal government digital services, including INSS data and digital vehicle registration.
Index analysis
Cybersecurity experts noted that facial authentication on Gov.br employs passive and active verification checks. The platform uses camera sensors with varying capabilities across devices, and the authentication system maintains a larger margin of error to avoid access blocks, which increases vulnerability to fraud. The lack of mandatory two-factor authentication enables criminals to access the platform globally using fabricated facial images.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.