Mexico reports 484% rise in synthetic fraud

Mexico logged a more than 484% increase in fraud committed with synthetic materials and content manipulated by artificial intelligence in 2025, according to iWorld, which cited Sumsub’s Identity Fraud Report. In parallel, Ultranoticias reported that KnowBe4 warned in the country about the use of deepfakes to impersonate people, request transfers, obtain sensitive information, or spread false information.

What do the reported figures say for Mexico?

The published numbers point to a sharp rise in digital fraud cases, although not all of them come from directly verifiable primary sources in the available material. iWorld attributed the more than 484% increase in 2025 to Sumsub, while Clase Turista said the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection assigned Mexico a 700% increase in cases related to deepfakes.

Ultranoticias also cited figures from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System showing that 47,288 fraud investigations were opened in Mexico between January and May 2026. Over the same period, Mexico City recorded 9,075, and the State of Mexico 7,603.

What kind of scams are being used?

The warnings point to impersonation schemes that combine social engineering, fake messages, and manipulated content. Ultranoticias said KnowBe4 described deepfakes being used to pose as other people in order to obtain money or sensitive data, while the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office and its Cyber Police warned about criminals impersonating banks, companies, authorities, family members, and technical support.

The SSPC, for its part, issued a public alert about messages that appear to come from banks, government institutions, or relatives, and that can be used to obtain confidential data. The available report does not explicitly link that warning to deepfakes, and it does not provide new figures.

What did local authorities say?

The Jalisco state prosecutor’s office and its Cyber Police recommended steps to reduce the risk of social engineering and said the scams spread through calls, email, SMS, and messaging apps. The warning focused on identity theft and on manipulating victims into handing over information or taking a specific action.

El Heraldo de México added another point of context, reporting fraud as the most common crime in Mexico during 2025, with a rate of 8,290 cases per 100,000 inhabitants according to the ENVIPE 2026 from INEGI. That measure, based on the available material, does not show that those cases involved deepfakes.

How widespread does identity fraud appear to be?

ITSitio reported, citing Regula Forensics, that 70% of companies surveyed in Mexico in 2024 said they had suffered identity fraud through false or altered documents. It also said complaints of possible fraud before Condusef rose 16.7% in the first half of 2026, although the available result did not allow verification of a primary source from Regula Forensics or Condusef.

Taken together, the reports suggest that checking a photo or a document is no longer enough to stop fraud attempts. The warnings collected in Mexico point to broader controls against manipulated identities, fake messages, and AI-assisted impersonation.