Paraguay: three identity fraud cases

Paraguay’s Public Ministry has charged a woman in an alleged fraud case after a complainant deposited G. 8,500,000 into a bank account in the defendant’s name, opened through a digital app. Prosecutors said the payment was made on Jan. 25, 2026, after the victim was led to believe she had to pay a fine for excess weight on a package arriving from Spain.

What does the prosecutor's theory say?

The prosecutor’s theory is that the accused acted together with a man who presented himself as a DHL employee. According to the Public Ministry, the pair allegedly withdrew the money through several transactions, although that joint involvement remains an attribution that has not been definitively confirmed in the information released by prosecutors.

What happened in Itá with the fake identity?

National Police officers arrested a Russian national in Itá while he was trying to carry out procedures at a Banco Nacional de Fomento branch using a fake Paraguayan identity card. Police said the Cabis biometric identification system allowed them to determine his true identity.

What did the WhatsApp hack victim report?

A woman in Paraguay reported that criminals took over her WhatsApp account, asked her contacts for money, and also gained access to her banking app. From that app, they transferred G. 420,000, according to the complaint published by Extra Paraguay.

The three cases point to different tactics, but they are connected by the same thread: fake identities, impersonation, or unauthorized access used to obtain money or carry out transactions. In one case, the operation relied on a bank account opened through a digital app. In another, biometric verification at the bank exposed a forged document. In the third, the compromise of both messaging and mobile banking ended with money requests and a direct transfer.