CPF

Data theft is dominating French tech and cyber news. Dutch police arrested a self-confessed former hacker linked to the ShinyHunters investigation, while the ANSSI cybersecurity agency detailed the blind spots that allowed a cyberattack on the French tax administration. Scams targeting public services like CPF, ANTS and Ameli are also still active, keeping data security in the spotlight.

A warning is circulating that people who fall for online scams are being victimised twice: after losing money, their stolen personal data is then used by fraudsters to take out loans or open accounts, leaving the victims facing lawsuits for debts they never incurred. The claim stresses that scammers do not even use their own documents, such as Brazil's CPF identity number, making the fraud hard to trace, and calls for action to stop it.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva suggested limiting the number of credit cards a person can hold per CPF, Brazil's taxpayer ID. The proposal is drawing pushback from people who argue many Brazilians rely on multiple cards not out of extravagance but because their salary runs out before the end of the month. Critics say the real problem for Brazilians is not simply owning two cards, but the gap between wages and the cost of living.