Free Flow Toll Scam: 480 Fake Sites Target Brazil’s Drivers via Pix
Brazil · Technology
Key Facts
- —What happened Security firm Kaspersky says it has found 480 fake free flow toll payment sites in Brazil since the start of 2026.
- —How it works Drivers enter a licence plate, see a small fake debt with real vehicle details, and pay criminals by Pix.
- —The catch No police investigation, arrest or total loss figure has been reported; the count comes from a company selling antivirus software.
- —The safe route The official CNH do Brasil app lists free flow passages and links to each road operator’s own payment channel.
- —The real deadline Pay every outstanding toll by 16 November 2026; any unpaid on 17 November can draw a R$195.23 (about US$38) fine.
- —Who is exposed Drivers on gantry-tolled roads such as the Via Dutra near São Paulo and the Rio–Santos coastal highway.
Brazil is replacing toll booths with camera gantries, and criminals are cashing in on the confusion. Here is how the trap works and how to pay the real toll.
A free flow toll scam is spreading online as Brazil removes toll booths from its highways. The cybersecurity company Kaspersky says it has found 480 fake payment websites since the start of 2026.
The sites mimic the electronic toll systems on roads such as the Via Dutra, the main Rio–São Paulo highway. Drivers who pay through them send money by Pix, Brazil’s instant payment system, straight to criminals.
Kaspersky, which sells antivirus software, published the figure in a press release on 1 September 2026. No police investigation, arrest or total loss figure has been reported.
How the free flow toll scam works
The trap starts with a search. A driver who has passed a toll gantry looks online for how to pay and clicks a sponsored link.
The link leads to a page that imitates an official toll platform, according to Kaspersky. The driver types in a licence plate, and the site reports an unpaid toll.
To look credible, the page shows a small amount in line with a real toll, plus genuine details of the vehicle. Olhar Digital, a Brazilian technology news site, described charges of around R$25 (about US$5).
The victim pays by Pix. Kaspersky says the money lands in accounts held by “laranjas”, Brazilian slang for front men who lend their names to criminals.
In May, the company said those accounts sat at fintech firms. The recipient names changed constantly to make tracing harder.
From 50 sites to 480 in eight months
Kaspersky documented more than 50 fake domains in February and more than 400 by 7 May 2026. Its September release counted 480 since the start of the year, with 80 added since early May.
Fabio Assolini, a lead security researcher at Kaspersky, described the operation in May as fast-evolving, structured and probably automated. In September he warned of new lures on the same theme in the coming months.
What free flow tolling is
Free flow replaces toll booths and barriers with gantries over the road. Cameras read each licence plate, or an electronic tag on the windscreen, as vehicles pass at speed.
Drivers with a tag are charged automatically. Everyone else must pay the concessionaire, the private company that runs the road, within 30 days, according to the Transport Ministry.
The Rio–Santos coastal highway, BR-101, has had gantries since 2023. On the Via Dutra, operator Motiva RioSP moved the Arujá–São Paulo express lanes to free flow on 6 December 2025.
Estado de Minas listed gantries in Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Rondônia as well as Rio. The ministry says 14 operators are now linked to the national traffic database.
Why the fake sites catch people
Until August, drivers had to hunt for the right website for each road operator, Assolini said in the September statement. That search “ended up creating an opportunity for scammers,” he said.
Pix makes the theft quick. The Central Bank’s system moves money between accounts in seconds, at any hour of any day.
How to pay the real toll
Since 24 August 2026, the federal CNH do Brasil app, the official digital driving licence, lists free flow passages. It shows the date, the operator, whether the toll is paid and a link to the operator’s payment channel.
The app does not take payments itself, the Transport Ministry says. Companies check passages on the Senatran Portal, run by the National Traffic Secretariat.
For the Dutra and Rio–Santos, Motiva RioSP lists the Motiva Rodovias app, pedagiodigital.com, WhatsApp on 0800-017-3536 and roadside kiosks. It says it does not send payment slips.
Kaspersky advises typing the operator’s address into the browser rather than clicking search ads. It adds that official tolls are never paid to personal accounts or unknown fintech firms.
The company also tells drivers to check the recipient’s name before confirming any Pix. It has found no fake copy of the CNH do Brasil app, though look-alike names sit in the App Store.
Visitors in rental cars
The CNH do Brasil app lists passages for vehicles linked to the user, which a rental car is not. Rental firms usually pay the toll and then recover it from the driver, CNN Brasil reported in May.
Visitors should ask at the counter whether the car carries a tag and how tolls will be billed. Without a tag, Motiva RioSP lets anyone look up a plate on its official site and pay there.
The government is studying a system for rental firms to pass charges straight to the driver, CNN Brasil reported. The talks were at an early stage.
The fine, and a grace period
Not paying is a “serious” offence under Article 209-A of the Brazilian Traffic Code. That carries a fine of R$195.23 (about US$38) and five points on the licence.
Dollar figures here use a rate of 5.16 to the US dollar, the Central Bank’s PTAX reference rate for 18 September 2026.
Contran, the National Traffic Council, has paused new free flow fines from 29 April to 16 November 2026. The pause is not an amnesty: every toll is still owed.
Every outstanding free flow toll, including passages made during the pause, should be paid by 16 November 2026. Any still unpaid on 17 November can be fined R$195.23 (about US$38) with five points, the Transport Ministry says.
Paying within the window cancels fines already issued, and the ministry says 1,324,797 had been cancelled by 24 August. Drivers who paid such a fine can ask the fining authority for a refund, provided the toll is paid by 16 November.
If you have already paid a fake site
The Central Bank tells Pix fraud victims to contest the payment in their bank’s app as fast as possible. That triggers the Special Return Mechanism, known as MED, which temporarily blocks funds in the receiving account.
Requests can be made up to 80 days after the transfer, but the Central Bank says recovery is not guaranteed. The genuine toll, if one is owed, still has to be paid through the official channel.
More: Brazil coverage, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the free flow toll scam in Brazil?
Criminals build websites that imitate the payment pages of Brazil’s electronic toll roads. A driver searching for how to pay clicks a sponsored ad or social media link, enters a licence plate and sees a small fake debt alongside real vehicle details. The driver pays by Pix and the money goes to accounts fronted by third parties. Kaspersky says it has found 480 such sites since the start of 2026.
How do I pay a free flow toll safely?
Check your passages in the federal CNH do Brasil app, which shows each toll and links to the road operator’s own payment channel. Or type the operator’s address directly into the browser; on the Via Dutra and Rio–Santos highways that is Motiva’s official site pedagiodigital.com, which Motiva RioSP lists for the Dutra and Rio–Santos. Do not click search ads, and never pay a toll by Pix to an individual.
What happens if I do not pay a free flow toll?
The Transport Ministry says the toll must be paid within 30 days. Failing to pay is a serious offence under the Brazilian Traffic Code, with a fine of R$195.23 (about US$38) and five licence points. New fines are paused until 16 November 2026, but every outstanding toll, including passages made during the pause, should be paid by that date. Any toll still unpaid on 17 November can be fined.
I am a tourist in a rental car. What should I do?
Ask the rental company whether the car has an electronic tag and how tolls are charged. Rental firms usually pay tolls and bill the renter afterwards, according to CNN Brasil. If the car has no tag, you can look up the plate on the road operator’s official site and pay there within the deadline.
Sources: Kaspersky release of 1 September 2026 on 480 fake sites, Kaspersky release of 7 May 2026, Transport Ministry on the CNH do Brasil app and the transition period, Serpro on the Senatran Portal for companies, Brazilian Traffic Code, articles 209-A, 258 and 259, Motiva RioSP on its gantries and payment channels, Motiva RioSP on free flow on the Via Dutra, Central Bank of Brazil on Pix, Central Bank of Brazil on the MED refund mechanism, Olhar Digital on typical fake charges, CNN Brasil on rental cars, Estado de Minas on where free flow operates
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