Rich neighborhoods concentrate digital crime in the capital of São Paulo – 10/26/2023 – Tech

Among the ten neighborhoods in the city of São Paulo that record the most incidents of crimes on the internet, such as scams and leaks of intimate photos, all can be considered rich to some extent.

The sectors that most concentrate cases of cell phone hacking and other digital crimes, in order, are: Itaim Bibi, Jardim Paulista, Vila Mariana, Perdizes, Sacomã, Pinheiros, Tatuapé, Vila Andrade, Santana and Bela Vista. Among these, only Sacomã is among the most populous.

Data on the 22,956 cases of cell phone hacking and other digital crimes in the capital of São Paulo between January 2019 and April this year are published for the first time by this Sheetwhich obtained them via the Access to Information Law.

These are missing statistics, for example, from the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook, since the state of São Paulo does not publish them. This is because the Public Security Secretariat (SSP) does not produce official information about these crimes, according to a note from the department sent to the report.

The ten neighborhoods mentioned are among the 30 with the highest internet connectivity in the capital of São Paulo and eight of them are among the 30 richest. The context of each sector comes from the Rede Nossa São Paulo inequality map, which brings data on population, digital infrastructure and work and income from the 96 districts of the country’s largest city.

For the researcher at USP’s Center for Violence Studies (NEV), Pablo Almada, the criminals’ preference is rational, as it targets people with greater circulation on the internet and who can earn more money with each scam.

Furthermore, investment in security in upscale neighborhoods makes it difficult to carry out traditional crimes, such as theft and assault. Digital crimes serve as an alternative to circumventing cameras, guardhouses, fences and walls.

The incidents recorded have to do with the case of journalist Ana, 26, from 2021. She asked to have her surname preserved. Then a resident of Perdizes, she paid around R$300 to close her MEI (individual microentrepreneur) to a website that reproduced the visual identity of the government portal. This service, however, is free on official channels and she never recovered the money.

“I trusted it because it was the first link that appeared in the Google search and the value was in line with what I owed in terms of monthly contribution”, says Ana.

After payment, she received an email — a supposed law firm said it would help her close MEI —, which made her suspicious. Next, she searched for the name of the establishment on the Reclame Aqui website and found dozens of scam complaints.

She even tried to ask for the money back. That office responded that it did not provide refunds. This was indicated in text in the footer of the website used for the scam.

In the end, Ana closed the MEI on the government portal. Her case is different from those presented in this article because she did not file a police report. The journalist, who considers herself literate in terms of the internet, restricted herself to publicizing the scheme on her own social networks.

This is the reality of many scam victims, according to security experts interviewed by the report, for whom underreporting is a challenge in combating digital crime.

“People often don’t know that a scam is a crime. When they do know, they doubt the police’s ability to solve the case”, says Pablo Almada, from NEV. He adds that this distrust of the police, in general, is greater in poorer neighborhoods, where there is state repression.

The low rate of arrests corroborates the authorities’ difficulty in finding those responsible for the scams. Only 0.08% of cases are flagrant.

The police do not need to be at the victim’s side at the time of the attack. People can make the authorities’ work easier when they notice fraud, if they take a print or record the episode, to set up the act.

It is possible, however, that those who were harmed may take days to realize the hole left by the fraudsters. Among the police reports, 91.4% do not have the time of the crime indicated and another 4% indicate “in an uncertain period.”

In any case of a scam, authorities recommend filing a police report.

In the country, there are two laws that typify digital crimes: the Cybercrime Law, better known as the Caroline Dieckmann Law; and, law 14,155 of 2021, which provides for the crime of hacking a computer device.

It’s a digital crime:

• hack computer device
• commercialize leaked information
• interruption of telephone, computer or public information service
• falsify document
• forge card
• commit fraud using an electronic device with or without breach of a security mechanism, use of a malicious program or other fraudulent means

In response to the request for access to information from Sheetthe Public Security Secretariat of the State of São Paulo states that “the total number of police reports registered under a criminal nature does not represent the criminal statistics of the State or of a given area or region.”

The statistics in São Paulo are recorded in accordance with the procedures established by resolution of the secretariat. To do this, technicians identify repetitions, correct inaccurate data and cross-reference information to ensure more accurate analysis.

This procedure is not yet carried out in the case of digital crimes, according to a note sent by the SSP to Sheet.

Victims of scams can file a police report at any State Police Station. The Civil Police also emphasizes the importance of criminal representation in court by the victim.

The data is limited to April this year, as the request for information was made in May. Asked about the possibility of updating the data via the press office, the SSP said that it only shares this data via LAI.