Reported by 2 outlets

Timeline

1. original reporting

   153 Million Driver License Images Offered on Dark Web

   securityweek.com · 40d ago · September 3rd, 2026

   A threat actor this week started offering on the dark web digital scans of over 153 million US and Canadian driver’s licenses. The driver’s licenses emerged on an identity theft service called Nexus. Simultaneously, a threat actor started promoting the service on a Russian cybercrime forum, claiming the possession of the IDs of over 170 million individuals. On Nexus, visitors could find over 153 million driver’s licenses, more than 10 million identification cards, over 3 million travel documents and international IDs, and roughly 580,000 medical cards. According to investigative journalist Brian Krebs, a blank search on Nexus appeared to return approximately 153 million results. Only around 1.1 million driver’s licenses were from Canada. The threat actor behind Nexus alleged that the documents were exfiltrated from an active breach at an identity verification firm that serves multiple Fortune 500 companies, Krebs reports . After verifying the presence of his own driver’s license on Nexus, as well as that of other individuals, Krebs concluded that the documents were likely siphoned from identity verification platform IDScan.net. The Louisiana-based firm provides ID fraud prevention, access management, and age verification services, along with an ID-activated door lock and mobile ID scanners. The company says it works with large brands across a dozen industries, including automotive, banking and fintech, gaming, education, transportati

2. update from cyberpress.org

   FBI Probes Data Breach Exposing 153 Million Driver’s License Scans on Dark Web

   cyberpress.org · 40d ago · September 3rd, 2026

   The FBI has opened an investigation into an apparent data breach after a dark web marketplace began selling scans of more than 153 million U.S. The service, called Nexus, allegedly offered highly detailed identity records that may have originated from a Louisiana-based identity-verification provider Nexus was advertised on the Russian-language cybercrime forum Exploit on August 31, claiming access to identity documents belonging to more than 170 million people across North America. FBI Probes Data Breach Exposing 153 Million Driver’s License Scans Its operators said the collection included over 153 million driver’s licenses, 10 million identification cards, more than three million travel or international identity documents, and at least 579,000 medical cards. An unauthenticated blank search reportedly returned roughly 11.5 million result pages, each displaying about 15 records, figures broadly consistent with the claimed scale. While the data set included Canadian documents, most records appeared to belong to U.S. residents. Searches for Canadian driver’s licenses alone reportedly produced around 1.1 million results, including 473,673 records from Ontario. The marketplace’s listings included more than basic personal details. Some entries reportedly contained front-and-back license images, standard scans, infrared captures, ultraviolet images, photographs, and timestamps associated with the scans. Such material could enable criminals to commit h