IDScan confirms breach after 153 million driver’s licenses leak on dark web

Days after reports linked IDScan to a dark web database holding more than 153 million driver’s license scans, the identity verification company has confirmed hackers accessed customer data stored on its cloud platform.

The Louisiana-based firm, which processes ID checks for car rental companies, retailers and cannabis dispensaries, posted a notice on its website September 4 acknowledging the incident.

“On or around September 1, 2026, IDScan.net received information indicating that certain data may have been accessed without authorization. Upon this discovery, we took immediate steps to secure our systems and engaged a team of third-party specialists to help determine the full nature and scope of the incident. This investigation is currently ongoing,” the company wrote.

IDScan’s notice is careful with its wording. The company said an unauthorized third party “may have accessed and/or copied certain customer information” stored in its accounts on the IDScan cloud platform. The data at risk includes names and driver’s license or other government-issued identification numbers.

Even though it says access to the data came at a cost, the company says it is notifying people who may be affected “in an abundance of caution” and giving them free credit monitoring and identity protection.

“In response to this incident, we immediately began an investigation and reviewed our policies and procedures related to data security. We are also cooperating with federal law enforcement on their investigation.” the company added.

Massive ID leak sparks FBI probe

The incident came to light after security journalist Brian Krebs reported that a dark web marketplace called Nexus was offering access to more than 153 million scanned driver’s licenses from the US and Canada, along with 10 million ID cards, 3 million travel documents and 579,000 medical cards.

Krebs wrote that a source alerted him on August 31 to a listing on the Russian cybercrime forum Exploit, advertising scans of identity documents belonging to more than 170 million people in North America.

He said the source flagged it to him because the seller had “offered my Virginia drivers license as a free sample” to prove the data was real.

Krebs confirmed the leak was genuine by searching the database for records tied to himself and others who agreed to be checked, then traced the exposed data back to IDScan.net.

Based on Krebs’s reporting, the FBI’s New Orleans field office opened a formal investigation, which he says was likely triggered after he told a trusted source that Nexus was also selling the driver’s license of the FBI’s assistant director, though he did not find one belonging to Director Kash Patel in the data.

Shortly after this story was published, the Nexus identity theft service disappeared from the dark web.