# Cloned number and account takeover: how the scam works and what to do · Bipe

The scammer gets the login code of your messaging app, or clones your number, and starts asking your contacts for money. People trust it, because the message comes from a saved contact.

**Cloned number: when the scammer talks as if they were you**

## The numbers

- **8.7%** had their number used by someone else to scam people (about 14.7 million people) (Jul 2024 to Jun 2025. Source: [Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública e Datafolha](https://publicacoes.forumseguranca.org.br/server/api/core/bitstreams/33ed3320-fc11-45f9-a909-ed69eba48cfd/content))
- **R$ 815** was the mean loss of people whose number someone else used to scam people (Jul 2024 to Jun 2025. Source: [Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública e Datafolha](https://publicacoes.forumseguranca.org.br/server/api/core/bitstreams/33ed3320-fc11-45f9-a909-ed69eba48cfd/content))
- **7.0%** had a social media or messaging profile taken over by someone else (Jul 2024 to Jun 2025. Source: [Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública e Datafolha](https://publicacoes.forumseguranca.org.br/server/api/core/bitstreams/33ed3320-fc11-45f9-a909-ed69eba48cfd/content))
- **11.4%** had someone pose as them online (Jul 2024 to Jun 2025. Source: [Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública e Datafolha](https://publicacoes.forumseguranca.org.br/server/api/core/bitstreams/33ed3320-fc11-45f9-a909-ed69eba48cfd/content))

## How it works

1. Someone contacts you saying they are from a shop, a marketplace or a survey and asks for the code that just arrived by SMS.
2. With that code, the scammer signs in to your account on another phone. In another version, they move your number to their own SIM card.
3. You lose access, and they start writing to your contacts and groups as if they were you.
4. They ask for a Pix in a rush, from many people at once.

## How to spot it

- An SMS code arrived that you did not ask for.
- Someone asks for that code by message or call.
- Your messaging app signed out on its own, or your SIM card stopped working out of nowhere.
- Friends say you asked them for money, and it was not you.

## What to do

- Do not give the SMS code to anyone, not even someone who says they are from the app.
- Turn on two-step verification in your messaging app.
- Lost the account? Tell your contacts another way and ask them not to send money.
- If your SIM card stopped working out of nowhere, call your carrier at once. Then file a police report.

## How Bipe helps

Bipe is made so you know who is on the other side. Not everything is ready: each item shows where it stands on iPhone and Android.

- [No SMS codes](https://proseio.com.br/en/features/no-sms-codes/) (iPhone: In the test app; Android: In development): You sign in with e-mail and a password. Whoever takes your SIM card does not get your account.
- [Verified seal](https://proseio.com.br/en/features/verified-seal/) (iPhone: Coming soon; Android: Coming soon): A seal with a name verified through Pix or gov.br, so you know who is on the other side.
- [Is that really Mom?](https://proseio.com.br/en/features/is-that-really-mom/) (iPhone: Coming soon; Android: Coming soon): If the contact saved as Mum has a different verified name, the app asks if it is the same person.

Bipe only protects the chats that happen in Bipe. If someone in the family still uses another app, a scammer can write to them there.

## Other common scams

- [Fake relative](https://proseio.com.br/en/scams-in-brazil/fake-relative-scam/)
- [Fake bank call centre](https://proseio.com.br/en/scams-in-brazil/fake-bank-call-scam/)
- [Pix and fake boleto](https://proseio.com.br/en/scams-in-brazil/pix-scam/)
- [Fake shop](https://proseio.com.br/en/scams-in-brazil/fake-shop-scam/)
- [Threats with your data](https://proseio.com.br/en/scams-in-brazil/threat-scam/)
- [Scams in Brazil in numbers](https://proseio.com.br/en/scams-in-brazil/)

## Where these numbers come from

Researched on 12 October 2026. We only use numbers that have a source. Surveys by a company or a private association are marked as such.

- [Pesquisa de vitimização e percepção sobre violência e segurança pública 2025](https://publicacoes.forumseguranca.org.br/server/api/core/bitstreams/33ed3320-fc11-45f9-a909-ed69eba48cfd/content) (Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública e Datafolha, 2025-08)


## Download

- Install on iPhone: https://testflight.apple.com/join/KUnUX9Mz (Test version, through Apple TestFlight.)
- Android: coming soon: The Android version has not started yet. Leave your email and we will tell you when it is out. contact@envisioning.com

A project by Envisioning: https://envisioning.com