Dark Web Marketplace Offers Over 153 Million Driver's License Scans, FBI Investigates Source

A dark-web marketplace called Nexus has listed more than 153 million scans of U.S. and Canadian driver’s licenses for sale, along with millions of other identification documents. The service, which appeared on a Russian-language cybercrime forum, claims to have collected the data over the past year and added roughly 400,000 new records in a single day. Security researcher Brian Krebs verified that the database contains the licenses of public figures, including U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and includes multiple image types such as front, back, infrared and ultraviolet scans.

Krebs traced the likely source to IDScan.net, a New Orleans-based identity-verification firm that processes more than 21 million checks monthly for retailers and service providers such as hotels, convenience stores and car-rental companies. IDScan.net has not confirmed the breach but says it is investigating, while the FBI’s New Orleans field office has opened its own inquiry.

Experts highlighted the broader risk of outsourcing identity verification. "These systems are putting sensitive data into more and more 3rd party vendors, and we don’t have nearly the oversight to ensure they are safe," said security researcher Zach Edwards, whose own license appeared in the leak. Policy analyst Peter Van Valkenburgh called the incident "inevitable" and urged a reduction in Know-Your-Customer (KYC) practices, suggesting that data-minimization techniques such as zero-knowledge proofs could verify attributes without exposing full document details.

The incident adds to a series of large-scale data breaches in recent years, including exposures at education software provider PowerSchool and telecommunications company AT&T. While technical solutions exist, analysts note that regulatory requirements often compel businesses to collect extensive personal data, complicating efforts to adopt privacy-preserving alternatives.