Nubank (Nu Holdings) · AI used against the institution · severity 1 of 5
From April to June 2025, AI-manipulated videos circulated on Brazilian social media claiming that Nubank had lost a court case or been fined and must pay every customer an indemnity of up to R$10,000. Brazilian fact-checkers Agência Lupa and Estadão Verifica reported that the clips, including deepfakes of federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira, were made with AI and led to fake sites that asked for a customer's CPF and then a Pix "tax" of R$55.73. Nubank denied paying any indemnity and called the posts a scam attempt, per Estadão. No losses have been disclosed by Nubank, the fact-checkers or any authority as of October 2026.
Record last reviewed Oct 21, 2026 · Markdown
Date
Institution
Country
Brazil
AI system
Deepfake videos and AI-generated audio of a federal deputy, a lawyer and TV news presenters (tool not identified)
AI?
Machine-learning system (inferred from the record)
The sources describe a machine-learning model; nobody on the record labelled it AI.
Status
Confirmed by the institution
Severity
1 of 5
Impact
Not disclosed; no victim count or loss figure has been published · Fraudulent sites collected CPF numbers and asked for a R$55.73 Pix 'tax' to release a non-existent indemnity, per Estadão Verifica's test.
What happened?
On 11 April 2025 Agência Lupa reported videos claiming that Nubank was offering customers an indemnity. In one, federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG) appears with a purported TV report saying the Receita Federal had fined Nubank and ordered it to pay every current or former customer up to seven minimum wages; in another, a lawyer appears to promise one to ten minimum wages. Lupa found both were deepfakes built from unrelated original recordings: Ferreira's from October 2023 and the TV segment from an SBT Brasil report on Pix monitoring in January 2025.[1]
Estadão Verifica reported on 30 April 2025 that several AI-made videos announcing the false Nubank indemnity had been posted by the same Facebook account. The detection tool Hive Moderation rated 99% of the audio in the Ferreira clip as AI-generated, and another clip spliced a Jornal Nacional presenter with a reporter holding a TV Record microphone. The posts led to a site imitating Nubank's purple branding that asked for the user's CPF, showed a fictitious indemnity (R$7,854.63 in Estadão's test) and then demanded a "tax" of R$55.73 paid by Pix, which Estadão identified as the point where the scam takes place.[2]
The scheme kept returning. Lupa debunked further versions on 16 May 2025 (an image post claiming Nubank lost a case against the Receita Federal and owed R$4,000 to R$10,000), on 26 May 2025 (a fake Jornal Nacional report) and on 4 June 2025 (a new Ferreira deepfake claiming Nubank must pay up to R$10,000). Lupa said the content usually circulates as AI-created video and aims to steal personal data and make users pay a "transfer tax".[3][4][5]
Nubank had warned on its blog since December 2023 about a related scam in which criminals impersonate news portals with a fake story about a "multa milionária" paid out to customers, asking victims to pay a small fee to receive it. That warning predates the deepfake wave and does not mention AI. None of the sources gives a number of victims or an amount lost.[3][6]
When did it happen?
- Dec 12, 2023
Nubank publishes a blog warning about a fake 'multa milionária' payout scam that uses its name.[6]
- Apr 11, 2025
Agência Lupa debunks deepfake videos of Nikolas Ferreira and a lawyer promising a Nubank indemnity.[1]
- Apr 30, 2025
Estadão Verifica reports several AI-made Nubank indemnity videos from one Facebook account; Nubank denies paying any indemnity.[2]
- May 26, 2025
Lupa debunks a fake Jornal Nacional report on a Nubank indemnity for customers of 2015 to 2025.[4]
- Jun 4, 2025
Lupa debunks a new Ferreira deepfake claiming Nubank lost a lawsuit and owes customers up to R$10,000.[5]
What was the impact?
- Customers: Not disclosed; no victim count or loss figure has been published[1][2]
- Other: Fraudulent sites collected CPF numbers and asked for a R$55.73 Pix 'tax' to release a non-existent indemnity, per Estadão Verifica's test.[1][2]
Severity 1 of 5: Recurring impersonation lure that tried to collect personal data and small Pix fees; Nubank denied any indemnity, and no losses, victim count or regulatory action have been disclosed.
How did Nubank (Nu Holdings) respond?
Nubank denied that it was paying any indemnity to its customers and said the posts were a scam attempt, according to Estadão Verifica. Its blog tells customers that any message about cash payouts "de qualquer valor" is a scam, to check promotions only through official channels, and to report misuse of the brand through its Canal de Denúncias.[2][6]
What was the outcome, and did regulators act?
The videos were debunked repeatedly by Agência Lupa and Estadão Verifica. No arrests, platform takedown figures, losses or regulatory action connected to this campaign had been reported as of 21 October 2026.[2][5]
Is Nubank paying customers an indemnity of up to R$10,000?
No. Nubank denied paying any indemnity and called the posts a scam attempt, according to Estadão Verifica in April 2025. Agência Lupa debunked at least four versions of the claim between April and June 2025, including deepfake videos of federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira.
Was any money lost in the fake Nubank indemnity scam?
No loss figure has been disclosed. Estadão Verifica showed the fake site asked for a CPF and then a R$55.73 Pix 'tax' to release the supposed payment, which is how the scam takes money, but neither Nubank, the fact-checkers nor any authority has published how many people paid or how much.
Were the Nubank indemnity videos made with AI?
Agência Lupa and Estadão Verifica said so: Lupa called the clips deepfakes built from unrelated original recordings, and Estadão reported that the Hive Moderation tool rated 99% of the audio in the Ferreira video as AI-generated. Nubank's own statements describe the scam but do not discuss AI.
What does Nubank tell customers to do about these scams?
Nubank's blog says any message promising cash payouts of any amount is a scam, that customers should check promotions only through its official channels, and that anyone can report fraudulent use of the Nubank brand through its Canal de Denúncias so the bank can work to have it taken down.
- É falso que Nubank está oferecendo indenização de R$10 mil para clientes news
- É falso que Nubank esteja pagando indenização de até 10 salários mínimos a todos os clientes news
- Post sobre indenização do Nubank a clientes é golpe repaginado news
- Jornal Nacional não exibiu reportagem sobre indenização paga pelo Nubank news
- Deepfakes voltam a usar Nikolas Ferreira para promover falsa indenização do Nubank news
- Pagamento de multa milionária do Nubank? É golpe official
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