The FBI confirmed it is investigating a report that tens of millions of drivers' licenses from the United States and Canada are being sold on the dark web. The investigation was launched after an independent journalist discovered a website offering digital scans of the documents.

Journalist Brian Krebs reported on Tuesday that he found a dark web site selling millions of drivers' licenses from both countries. Krebs stated he verified the authenticity of the data with nine individuals. The FBI acknowledged it is "looking into the incident" but declined further comment due to the "ongoing nature of the investigation."

If confirmed, this breach could represent one of the largest exposures of government-issued identity documents in North America, potentially putting tens of millions of people at risk of identity theft and fraud. Krebs was alerted to the site after it was advertised on a Russian cybercrime forum, and he found his own driver's license offered as a free sample.

The service, reportedly named Nexus, claimed to possess tens of millions of licenses for individuals in the U.S. and Canada, along with millions of other identification and travel documents, and hundreds of thousands of medical records. Krebs noted that the site appeared to be updating its database in real time, suggesting it was being fed by an active breach.

Zach Edwards, a threat researcher at cybersecurity firm Infoblox, described the incident as unprecedented in its scope. "There’s never been a breach of driver’s licenses at this scale," Edwards said, adding that his own license was available for purchase on the site. He also indicated that the ongoing nature of the breach poses "legitimate national security risks for high-profile individuals."

Reuters could not independently confirm the source of the stolen data. Krebs quoted a representative from New Orleans-based identity verification provider IDScan.net, stating the company was investigating the matter. IDScan.net, which offers "ID fraud prevention at scale," did not respond to repeated requests for comment from Reuters.

The dark web site offering the driver's license data reportedly disappeared shortly after Krebs published his report.