The FBI has launched an investigation into the theft of millions of Americans' and Canadians' driver's licenses after a dark web service called Nexus was exposed for selling digital scans of over 153 million licenses. The stolen images allegedly come from IDScan.net, a Louisiana-based identity verification company that performs over 21 million verifications monthly at more than 20,000 locations. A cybersecurity expert, Brian Krebs, first reported on the issue after discovering a link between Hertz and Planet13, two companies that have used IDScan.net's services, which may be connected to the breach. The investigation was prompted by Krebs' own research, as well as his source having tipped off the FBI about Nexus selling driver's licenses for an assistant director of the FBI.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
The FBI has launched an investigation into the theft of millions of driver's licenses, mostly from Americans and Canadians. The probe follows a report by cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs, who exposed a dark web service called Nexus that was allegedly selling digital scans of over 153 million driver's licenses. Krebs discovered that Nexus had advertised its service on a Russian cybercrime forum, offering a free sample with his own Virginia driver's license. He then traced the source of the stolen images to IDScan.net, a widely-used identity verification company based in Louisiana. IDScan.net claims it has been breached, but the extent of the breach is not clear. The stolen licenses were being sold on Nexus, which had been operating for months. Krebs' investigation began after a tip from a source last Monday.
Written for “Mass Driver's License Theft” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
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answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
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No political leaning scored for article 6044 · logged 2026-09-07
The FBI has launched an investigation into the theft of millions of stolen Americans' and Canadians’ driver’s licenses.
asserted
FBI → launch → licenses
The new probe was announced as Brian Krebs, a former Washington Post reporter with a background in cybersecurity, exposed a dark web service called Nexus that was allegedly selling digital scans of more than 153 million driver’s licenses, mostly from people in the U.S., but also many in Canada.
uncertain
that → announce → Canada
“Based on interviews with individuals whose licenses are available for purchase on this service, it appears to be siphoning images collected by a widely-used identity verification company based in Louisiana,” Krebs wrote in his blog “Krebs on Security” last Tuesday.
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Krebs → base → Security
Krebs started digging into the matter after a source tipped him off last Monday.
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source → start → him
Nexus had advertised their service on the Russian cybercrime forum Exploit, offering Krebs’ Virginia driver’s license as a free sample, the independent journalist reported.
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journalist → advertise → sample
Those behind Nexus claimed the stolen license images come from an active breach at “a major identity verification company,” which Krebs traced back to New Orleans-based IDScan.net.
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Krebs → claim → IDScan.net
Out of more than a dozen relatives and friends that Krebs asked permission to search their licenses on Nexus, nine were found and each of those nine had traveled on or very close to the dates in the timestamps attached to their photos.
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each → ask → photos
Krebs then discovered a commonality among some of those travelers — they rented vehicles from Hertz, including Krebs himself.
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they → discover → Krebs
The journalist also found the driver’s license of Zach Edwards, a security and privacy researcher, on Nexus.
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journalist → find → Nexus
Edwards said the timestamp on his record was taken during a trip to Las Vegas last month.
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timestamp → say → Vegas
During the trip, he said he went to the marijuana dispensary Planet13, where his ID was scanned.
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ID → say → dispensary
Krebs found the link between Hertz and Planet13 — they have both been customers of identity verification provider IDScan.net.
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they → find → IDScan.net
The identity firm says it performs more than 21 million verifications monthly at more than 20,000 international locations.
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it → say → locations
IDScan.net has confirmed to Krebs that it was investigating the matter.
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it → confirm → matter
“At this point I’m not able to share any additional information, but the updates you have provided have been welcome, and helpful to our team’s investigation,” Jillian Kossman, a marketing and operations leader at IDScan.net, told Krebs.
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Kossman → ’m → Krebs
The Independent has reached out to Hertz and IDScan.net for comment.
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Independent → reach → comment
Krebs first reported that the FBI’s New Orleans field office launched an official inquiry into the source of the stolen ID images.
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office → report → images
“During the course of my research for this story, word got around to the FBI that I was poking at the apparent source of this new identity theft service’s data.
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I → get → data
Probably they were tipped off when I shared with a trusted source that Nexus also is selling the drivers license information for the assistant director of the FBI,” Krebs said.
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Krebs → tip → FBI
It’s unclear which assistant director Krebs was referring to.
uncertain
Krebs → ’ → director
“Earlier this afternoon, I was added to a conference call with a half-dozen FBI agents, including senior leaders from the agency’s cyber division,” Krebs said in his September 1 report.
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Krebs → add → report
“During that call, the FBI shared that earlier today their New Orleans field office opened an official investigation into an apparent breach involving idscan.net.”
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office → share → idscan.net
In an update, Krebs said Nexus vanished from the dark web shortly after he published the report.
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he → say → report
