Bank fraud through malware in Latin America increased rapidly in one year, reaching 113 %. Victims, who have lost millions of dollars in these illegal acts, already have laws that force banks to reimburse in countries such as Chile and Colombia.

This is reported in a report from late September prepared by BioChat, which highlights that countries such as Brazil and Mexico are also analyzing the feasibility of establishing similar laws. Tom Peacock, BioCatch’s Global Director of Fraud Intelligence, highlights the speed with which criminals evolve and adapt their programs to evade banks’ defenses.

“What is surprising is not necessarily the increase in malware-driven fraud cases in the region,” the executive said, adding that what is really worrying is “the volume in which these spikes occurred. We saw cases rise dramatically in January of this year, gradually decline as banks detected and closed these attacks, and then explode again in June.”

In the report titled “2024 Digital Banking Fraud Trends in Latin America,” the company also addresses the continuing trend of “fraud on stolen devices, observed since at least 2018. Reported cases of digital banking fraud across the region grew by 32% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.”

Bank frauds with more sophisticated methods

Jorge Aguilar Perez, Vice President of BioCatch LATAM, spoke about the vulnerability of people to fraud in Latin America through methods such as phone calls, text messages and suspicious emails. He highlights that even though victims are aware of this technique, the persistence of criminals forces them to share personal information.

The report also mentions the consequences of the Grandoreiro Trojan, a seven-year-old banking malware that is returning with increasing force and that in 2023 specifically targeted more than 1,500 financial institutions, more than 20 % of them located in Latin America.

The report also mentions the case of account takeovers. “Although social engineering attacks are increasing almost everywhere, BioCatch continues to record a substantial amount of account takeovers in countries where regulation is less advanced and scammers find it easier to compromise accounts.”

The findings of the cyberattack specialist firm are a warning to all countries in the region, which could follow the example of Colombia and Chile in terms of legislation to ensure that banks reimburse victims of fraud.

M.Pino

Source: cointelegraph

(Reference image source: Getty Images for Unsplash+)

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