Pix-related fraud and extortion in Brazil

Criminal activity in Brazil has increasingly involved the misuse of the Pix digital payment system. Previous incidents included a man in São Paulo sentenced for using falsified Pix confirmations to obtain food, a resident in Teresópolis detained for presenting a counterfeit receipt, and a woman in Ceará arrested for defrauding a makeup store via WhatsApp. Additionally, a hostage situation in Natal involved the wife of a criminal judge being forced to transfer R$ 5,000 via Pix.

Recent developments show a diversification of these tactics. In the Distrito Federal, a woman’s conviction was upheld after she simulated her own kidnapping, using fake social media accounts and photos of herself gagged to extort R$ 5,000 from her partner. In Mato Grosso, a 27-year-old man was arrested in Jaciara for using scheduled Pix transfers to deceive merchants and steal goods. In Ceará, a 22-year-old woman was caught in flagrante for sending fake Pix receipts to a makeup store in Cascavel.

The Brazilian judiciary is also addressing the legal complexities of these crimes. The Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) ruled that extortion admits an attempted form if the victim does not perform any act following a threat. Furthermore, courts in São Paulo have held banks liable for service failures when they fail to detect atypical, high-value transactions that fall outside a client’s usual profile.