Bolivia’s banks and UPDS warn on AI fraud

Update October 28, 2026: the coverage now includes Banco Unión’s warning about QR code manipulation in transactions, the lack of official national figures on these incidents, and a call for joint work among financial institutions. It also adds that CiberLATAM Connect brought together representatives from nine financial institutions and international specialists in Bolivia.

A specialist cited by Economy warned that banks are facing phishing, impersonation through WhatsApp and social media, and credential theft, with the help of artificial intelligence tools that make messages more personalized and convincing. Separately, UPDS released a legal study on children and adolescents in digital environments that examines Law No. 1636 in relation to grooming, sexual extortion, and the malicious use of AI and deepfakes.

What fraud risks does Economy describe for banks?

Economy says common banking threats include phishing, impersonation through WhatsApp and social media, and credential theft. The specialist cited by the outlet also said artificial intelligence helps produce personalized, convincing messages, which expands the potential for deception.

The report adds that deepfakes can mimic voices and images to make someone believe they are speaking with a familiar or trusted person. That point appears as a warning about the quality of fraud, not as a confirmed case in Bolivia.

Economy also reported that banks face up to 10,000 cyberattacks a day, although the available excerpt does not explain the methodology or confirm that all of those incidents involve artificial intelligence. That figure should therefore be read cautiously, and only within the scope presented by the source.

What changes with the CiberLATAM Connect meeting in Bolivia?

The CiberLATAM Connect meeting in Bolivia added a concrete warning about the use of QR codes in transactions and brought together representatives from nine financial institutions and international specialists to address cybersecurity and cyberfraud. In that coverage, a Banco Unión executive said those codes can be manipulated to obtain personal information.

La Razón also reported that a Banco Unión representative said there are no official figures on this type of incident in Bolivia. In that context, the bank called for financial institutions to work together to confront cyberfraud.

Urgente.bo said the meeting brought together representatives from nine financial institutions and international specialists. The focus was on digital security and financial fraud in the country, with the financial sector taking part in the exchange.

What does UPDS’s legal research argue?

UPDS reported a legal study on the protection of children and adolescents in digital environments that examines Law No. 1636 against grooming, sexual extortion, and the malicious use of artificial intelligence and deepfakes. The research focuses on the challenges these practices pose for legal response and evidence.

According to the university, the study highlights the need to strengthen forensic computing, the chain of custody for digital evidence, and due process. That emphasis points to how evidence is preserved and contested when content can be altered or synthetically generated.

The overlap between the two sources is the use of digital manipulation techniques to persuade a victim or make verification harder. Economy places that risk in banking, while UPDS examines it through the protection of minors and the legal treatment of evidence, without the material provided identifying a confirmed Bolivian deepfake fraud case or a documented local implementation of an AI-assisted SOC.

What other warnings and recommendations followed?

Red Uno reported that the Threat Intelligence division of Check Point Software Technologies warned about the combined use of artificial intelligence, automation and anti-detection browsers to facilitate online fraud and digital account theft. The coverage does not say the study measures attacks against Bolivian banks.

A Bolivian outlet also published practical phishing advice, including avoiding unexpected links, entering the official app or website directly, and never sharing credentials or security codes. That content works as preventive context, not as evidence of new incidents in Bolivia.

Another report explained that a QR code does not guarantee authenticity. It can redirect users to unexpected domains, ask them to log in, link accounts, or push payments to the wrong recipient, so it recommended checking the domain, the requested action and the transaction details before authorizing anything.

Red Uno also reported that Banco Unión enabled its Yasta mobile wallet as an option for beneficiaries of the Juancito Pinto bonus to receive payment without going in person, and it reminded users not to open unknown links or share SMS codes, passwords or security data.