Colombia sees 188% rise in account takeovers

The jump detected in Colombia

In Colombia, account takeover attempts increased 188% in the period analyzed by Sumsub's 2025-2026 Identity Fraud Report, as cited by Infosertecla. The same report attributes that rise to a 77% increase in the use of deepfakes.

Infosertecla's coverage says the growth is tied to advanced identity fraud in verification and authentication processes used by financial apps. In that scenario, attackers insert fake videos to bypass security systems and gain access to accounts.

The report also places the trend within a broader set of AI-driven deception techniques, including synthetic identities and biometric manipulation through deepfakes. The focus is no longer just on stolen credentials, but on impersonating the traits and signals used to validate a user.

A wider fraud ecosystem

The increase comes against a high volume of cybercrime in the country. Colombia's Police Cyber Center reported 67,216 complaints in 2025. Of that total, 37,084 involved theft through computer systems, 13,849 involved unauthorized access to computer systems, 8,446 involved personal data breaches, 3,763 involved website spoofing, and 2,806 involved unauthorized transfer of assets.

Those figures help frame the environment in which account takeover attempts and other credential and digital-channel frauds are unfolding. At the regional level, Tabulado also reported, based on the Sumsub report, that advanced fraud using deception techniques and AI-generated identities rose 180%. In that comparison, Colombia stood out for the surge in account takeover attempts driven by deepfakes.

Pressure on banking channels

The warning comes alongside operational changes affecting large numbers of customers. During the migration of 267,000 Itaú Bank customers to Banco de Bogotá, the institution warned that scam attempts through calls, SMS messages, and fake emails intensify during operational changes or large-scale migrations.

In that notice, Banco de Bogotá also said those forms of financial impersonation have become the most common scams among banking users in Colombia. The bank also stressed that a top priority is helping new users quickly tell authentic communications from impersonation attempts, with guidance to verify official channels and reduce fraud risk during the account transition.