Brazil police arrest online fraud suspect known as Joker in Santos

Police from the São Paulo State Criminal Investigation Department (Deic) captured a man identified only as “Joker” during a raid in Santos on Thursday, April 30. The suspect, previously arrested in 2023 for operating a fake telephone central, had been on the run after a 2024 re‑arrest order. Authorities seized notebooks, a mobile phone and an external hard drive containing software used to generate mass‑calling scams that harvest personal data and passwords.

In a separate operation in the state of Bahia, police executed a search warrant at the home of a 42‑year‑old man from Salvador who is accused of using a deep‑fake image of a doctor from Teixeira de Freitas to sell counterfeit medicines and falsified medical prescriptions. A mobile phone was confiscated for forensic analysis. The investigation links the suspect to broader online fraud schemes that exploit AI‑generated images to deceive victims across multiple states.