The enactment of Law No. 15,397/2026 on Monday (May 4) represents one of the most significant updates to the Penal Code in recent decades. The new legislation aligns with a global surge in digital fraud, thereby stiffening penalties for property crimes. It also creates new criminal offenses and expands the scope of previously defined conduct, focusing on combating electronic fraud and digital schemes frequently used by organized crime, such as WhatsApp scams. According to criminal defense attorney Christiano Fragoso, partner at Fragoso Advogados, the changes are highly favorable to combating electronic fraud.
“The reform updated our 1940 Penal Code to the modern realities of 21st-century organized and digital crime,” states Christiano Fragoso. “Fraud no longer requires a formal victim complaint to proceed, lending bank accounts to third parties was criminalized, and the net has tightened around electronic scams. Law No. 15,397 responds to the growing sophistication of these criminal practices, which are predominantly property crimes. Consequently, these changes strengthen the fight against fraud, including within the insurance sector.”
A recent report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), drawn from research spanning more than 60 jurisdictions, pointed to a 60% increase in reported digital fraud and scams between 2024 and 2025. Today, this phenomenon is considered one of the primary risk factors threatening financial consumer protection. The tightening of the law is part of a global effort to curb fraud.
Among the most significant changes in the law is the return of fraud (estelionato) to an unconditional public criminal action, allowing authorities, such as the Public Prosecutor’s Office, to investigate and prosecute the crime regardless of a formal complaint by the victim. This change eliminates the six-month deadline previously required for representation and tends to facilitate criminal prosecution, especially in more complex fraud cases.
Another key highlight is the creation of a specific criminal offense for so-called “mule accounts” (“conta laranja”). The new law criminalizes lending or transferring a bank account for the movement of illicit funds—even if the account holder receives no financial or other benefit—carrying a penalty of one to five years in prison. The measure aims to target intermediary structures frequently used in fraudulent schemes.
“The law creates a new form of fraud for anyone who lends their bank account to this illicit financial transit. The ‘mule account’ has become an autonomous crime. Now, anyone who surrenders their account ‘without knowing what would happen’ can face criminal prosecution under eventual intent (dolo eventual), carrying a penalty of 1 to 5 years in prison,” notes Christiano Fragoso.
The legislation also expands the scope of electronic fraud, expressly including practices conducted through internet applications and by cloning or duplicating electronic devices, with penalties ranging from 4 to 10 years in prison. “The legislature sought to keep pace with the most widely used criminal methods, such as cloned WhatsApp scams and fake banking applications,” explains the attorney.
In addition to the digital sphere, the maximum penalty for simple theft was increased from four to six years, accompanied by a significant stiffening of sanctions related to the theft and robbery of cell phones. The objective is to deter prevalent practices in large urban centers and reinforce the repressive framework of the law.
“Mobile phone theft now carries a penalty of 4 to 10 years in prison—the former penalty for robbery—which precludes alternative sentencing for the offender,” assesses Christiano Fragoso. “In other words, a person who steals a cell phone, even if a first-time offender, will now effectively face prison time. Robbery will also be punished more severely, with penalties increasing to 6 to 12 years in prison.”
Other changes include increased penalties for crimes involving the disruption of telephone, IT, and telecommunications services, as well as harsher sanctions for qualified fencing (possession of stolen goods). The reform reflects a clear criminal policy directive aimed at stiffening penal responses and adapting the legal framework to contemporary crime dynamics, particularly in the digital environment.
