IDScan.net, an ID fraud protection platform, is offering free credit monitoring and identity protection services to customers affected by a data security incident, days after being linked to an FBI investigation into a dark web marketplace selling scanned identity documents. The company has not explicitly confirmed a connection between the breach and reports that its data was the source of the leaked IDs, though the timing strongly suggests a link. This matters because it involves highly sensitive personal data, including full names and government identification numbers, potentially exposing large numbers of people to fraud risk.

IDScan.net said an unauthorised third party may have accessed or copied customer information stored in its cloud accounts, noting that full access to the data required payment, and that it is notifying affected individuals while cooperating with federal law enforcement. The breach was first reported by journalist Brian Krebs on 1 September, who revealed that a dark web marketplace called Nexus had been selling scans of more than 153 million US and Canadian driver's licences along with millions of other identity documents; Nexus reportedly shut down ahead of the FBI probe, and Krebs' report named IDScan as a possible source of the leaked material. Engadget has contacted IDScan.net for comment on any link between the two incidents.