Fraud rise and scams in Portugal, Brazil

Recent reports from two separate regions highlight a growing problem with fraud. In Portugal’s Leiria district, police disclosed two distinct scams: a staged vehicle collision in Rio Maior that led to a €10,000 payment after perpetrators pretended to be emergency workers, and a false theft claim in which a 25‑year‑old woman fabricated a €980 robbery. Both cases prompted police warnings about the misuse of emergency services and the legal consequences of false crime reports.

In Brazil, a study by the Federação das Indústrias do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Firjan) documented a dramatic increase in reported fraud (estelionato) across the Região dos Lagos from 2015 to 2025, with a 441 % rise statewide and especially steep growth in municipalities such as Maricá. While violent homicide and street robbery rates fell, fraud’s economic impact was estimated at roughly R$ 31.1 billion per year, prompting calls for region‑specific security policies.

Together, these snapshots illustrate that fraud is intensifying both as isolated criminal schemes in Portugal and as a broader, statistically documented surge in Brazil, underscoring the need for heightened vigilance and targeted preventive measures.