FBI Probes Sale of 170 Million Stolen U.S.-Canada ID Documents
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 4
FBI Probes Sale of 170 Million Stolen U.S.-Canada ID Documents
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 4
Summary
The FBI confirmed it is investigating a trove of stolen identity records after scans of millions of U.S. and Canadian documents were offered for sale online.
Nexus, a database advertised this week on a dark-web forum, claimed to hold about 170 million identity documents, according to the report first highlighted Tuesday by Krebs on Security.
The exposed files are said to include driver’s licenses, travel documents and medical cards, while the FBI declined to discuss the breach’s origin because the inquiry is ongoing.
Identity Theft Resource Center President James E. Lee said breaches of this size are increasingly common, but photo-bearing documents make this leak especially useful for creating fake credentials.