Fake CNPJ billing: the scam against Brazilian micro-entrepreneurs
The fake "annual MEI fee", license renewal and Revenue regularization slips — with more than 1,300 reports at Sebrae.
Audience: Professionals and Personal Brands · Risk level: PREVENTIVE
Blindfy Intelligence Unit · Technical review by Blindfy
Scenario
The micro-entrepreneur receives by mail or email a payment slip charging a "mandatory annual MEI fee", "digital license renewal" or "regularization with the Federal Revenue". The document looks official, charges between R$ 60 and R$ 250 and has a short deadline. He pays, believing it is a legal obligation, and discovers weeks later that he handed money to a shell company.
How the scam works
Operators create companies with names resembling official bodies ("National Department of Microenterprises", "Business Regularization Center") and send slips to CNPJs bought in lists. Sebrae reported more than 1,300 accounts of variations of this scam in the last period.
Common mistake
Treating printed mail with a coat of arms as proof of officialdom. Anyone can print a payment slip with an institutional look.
Impact
Individually small financial loss, but massive at aggregate scale. In variants that request banking data, there is added risk of later fraud using the exposed CNPJ.
What works
Blindfy structures a fast validation channel for suspicious charges, monitors mentions and clones of small business owners' names and offers a monthly anti-scam MEI checklist for at-risk clients.
Protection checklist
- Confirm any charge on the official portal (gov.br/mei)
- Know that MEI has no annual fee beyond the monthly DAS
- Never pay a slip without clear issuer identification
- Register your official email and WhatsApp Business with Sebrae for real notices
- Report fake charges to Procon and the police
- Educate your accountant and admin staff on the pattern
- Check the Federal Revenue and gov.br/mei directly, never via a link
Editorial sources
- CERT.br / NIC.br — Cartilha de Segurança para Internet
- ENCCLA / Ministério da Justiça — Enfrentamento a golpes digitais
The MEI is Brazilian crime's most scalable target — millions of small payments add up to fortunes. Validating is cheaper than paying wrong.
