Police execute warrants in SP and ES for embezzlement and cloning of Estácio websites
DRCI agents investigate scammers who created fake domains to scam university students.
Quick Look
Civil police carry out warrants in São Paulo and Espírito Santo to investigate fraud and crimes against intellectual property after Estácio's complaint about fake websites created to scam students.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Scammers created fake domains by cloning Estácio's visual identity to attract students with false promises.
Agents from the IT Crime Repression Police Station (DRCI) went out to carry out search and seizure warrants in São Paulo and Espírito Santo, in order to investigate fraud and crimes against intellectual property.
The investigation began with a crime report opened by Estácio herself. Last year, scammers created domains similar to those used by the university, such as “estaciofaculdade.com.br”; “estaciobrasil.com.br”; “estaclo.com.br”; “estaclo.com”; “alunoibmec.com”; and “siaidomed.com”.
On these pages, which cloned the visual identity of legitimate websites, students were induced to believe that they would receive notebooks, graduation trips or discounts on outstanding tuition fees, by filling out registration information and paying an “administration fee” via PIX.
The processing of these amounts was made possible by instant payment management platforms, with 2 companies as recipients. The number of return requests on PIX also caught the researchers' attention.
Open Questions
- What were the total amounts moved by the scammers?
- How many people were arrested during the operation?
