Telephone fraud in Mexico remains one of the most common identity and money theft schemes. Fraudsters have the right to pose as employees of banks, government agencies, courier services or telecom operators. Often the caller knows the person’s name, phone number and other information, which creates the illusion of an official call.
Most fraudulent schemes in Mexico are related to the financial sector. Attackers can report a suspicious transaction on a bank account, a blocked card, a supposedly approved loan, a refund, a need to confirm your identity, and much more. The purpose of such calls is almost always the same — gain access to your personal data or money.
In addition, a significant proportion of calls from unknown numbers — this is spam. Banks offer credit cards, companies offer their products and services, and many other intrusive calls for marketing purposes.
If you receive a call from an unfamiliar number, do not immediately trust, provide personal information, bank card numbers, passwords or confirmation codes, or accept the offer. Ask to call back later and check the phone number where the call came from. This can be done on the CONDUSEF website.
CONDUSEF (Comisión Nacional para la Protección y Defensa de los Usuarios de Servicios Financieros) — Mexican government agency that protects users of financial services. The organization handles complaints against banks, insurance companies, pension funds and other financial institutions.
CONDUSEF maintains a financial fraud portal that collects information about suspicious phone numbers, email addresses, websites and accounts used by scammers.
The main source of information for filling the database of phone numbers of scammers and spammers are requests from citizens who have encountered suspicious calls or fraudulent schemes. When a person reports an authorized scam, the number will be included in the portal's database. The more people report suspicious numbers, the more useful the service becomes for other users.
At the same time, the presence of a number in the database does not always mean that a crime was committed using it. This is just a signal that other users have already reported suspicious activity and additional caution should be taken.
The database divides numbers into several categories: spam, scammers, advertising, intrusive calls, SMS.
If you receive a call from an unknown number and want to check its reputation, follow one simple query.
Go to thispageCONDUSEF. Enter the phone number from which you were called in the specified format. If this number has already received complaints, the system will show information about the registered messages.
The presence of a number in the CONDUSEF database does not automatically mean that the call is fraudulent. Conversely, the absence of a number in the database does not guarantee its security.
You can also report a suspicious number by filling out the form on this page.page. The message is anonymous, but you will have to write a short explanation of why you believe that the call or message from this number was from scammers or spammers.