Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay tighten controls

Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay logged a series of October signals showing how identity fraud and impersonation of financial entities are advancing across the region. In Brazil, Serasa Experian reported a 32.9% increase in identity fraud attempts in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. Unico also said it blocked $3.5 billion in digital fraud attempts across Latin America and stopped more than 13 million fraudulent attacks during the same half-year.

What is happening in Colombia?

In Colombia, text messages are circulating that impersonate Bre-B and direct users to fraudulent links that ask for credentials, verification codes, or other personal data. Kaspersky researchers said that this method, by itself, does not indicate a failure in the payments system. The scheme is aimed at stealing information and then trying to move money between banks.

What changed in Uruguay?

The Central Bank of Uruguay expanded enhanced authentication requirements for access to digital channels, card-not-present purchases, and access to, modification of, or updates to sensitive data. It also ordered notifications for attempts to change passwords, PINs, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, or other operational and security settings. The measure is meant to strengthen controls over transactions and data that now move through multiple channels.

What did Mexico warn about?

Mexico's Condusef warned about identity impersonation involving nine financial institutions during September 2026. It also recommended verifying institutions and their contact details in the SIPRES registry before sharing personal or banking information. The warning adds to other deception campaigns that use brands and institutional names to capture sensitive data.

What do the regional figures show?

The figures released by Unico and Serasa Experian reflect a more active fraud market in the region, with attacks that combine fake identities, brand impersonation, and abuse of digital channels. According to coverage by iProfesional, a LexisNexis Risk Solutions report attributed 48% of fraud cases in Latin America to false identities. That share appears as one of the most recurring components in schemes designed to get past controls and open the door to unauthorized transactions.