FBI probes leak of 153 million driver's licenses, including US defense secretary's

September 2, 2026 at 06:21 PM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

A dark web service called Nexus offered more than 153 million US and Canadian driver's license records for sale, including that of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The FBI's New Orleans office opened an investigation into a possible data breach linked to Louisiana-based ID verification firm IDScan.net. The service was advertised on the Russian cybercrime forum Exploit on August 31.

Key Facts

Nexus claimed to hold over 153 million driver's license records from the US and Canada, 10 million ID cards, and at least 579,000 medical cards.
The FBI's New Orleans office opened an official investigation into a possible data breach linked to IDScan.net.
KrebsOnSecurity verified 9 of 12 searched records as genuine, with timestamps matching the individuals' travel or ID verification dates.
The Nexus dark web site went offline shortly after the report was published.

The Nexus Data Leak

A dark web identity theft service called Nexus claimed to possess more than 153 million driver's license records from the US and Canada. The service also claimed to hold over 10 million ID cards, 3 million travel documents or international IDs, and at least 579,000 health cards. Nexus was advertised on the Russian-language cybercrime forum Exploit by a newly created account on August 31. The database included driver's license records of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other senior US government officials. KrebsOnSecurity verified 9 of 12 searched records as genuine, with timestamps matching the individuals' travel or ID verification dates.

Source and Investigation

The operators of Nexus claimed the data was obtained through an active cyberattack on an identity verification firm serving large companies. KrebsOnSecurity's investigation indicated the data may be linked to Louisiana-based identity verification company IDScan.net. IDScan.net stated it has launched an investigation but has not yet reached a definitive conclusion on the nature and scope of the data leak. The FBI's New Orleans office opened an official investigation into the possible data breach linked to IDScan.net. The database also contained driver's license information of a senior FBI official.

Verification and Shutdown

Some records included front and back images of licenses along with infrared and ultraviolet scans, indicating the data was not fabricated. The Nexus dark web site became inaccessible shortly after the news was published. The site's login screen was replaced with a brief message stating the service was no longer available.