The article says fraud in Latin America’s digital banking sector is rising faster than in other regions, driven by a combination of social engineering, account takeover, device theft, and mobile-focused attacks. Citing a BioCatch report, Dark Reading notes that social engineering scams jumped 155% in 2025, while malware, remote-access fraud, and stolen-device incidents also rose sharply. The core pattern, according to the piece, is that attackers increasingly chain techniques together: they first gain control of a victim’s device through theft or remote access, then use that foothold to bypass authentication and move quickly to fraudulent transfers before banks can intervene. The article argues that this trend reflects a structural shift in regional fraud, not just a temporary spike, and ties it to Latin America’s broader exposure to cyber threats, with organizations in the region reportedly facing about 50% more attacks than the global average.

The second half of the article frames the problem as a consequence of Latin America’s mobile-first economy. Because many users rely heavily on Android devices, and because real-time payments and rapid digital adoption have brought large numbers of less-experienced consumers online, fraudsters increasingly target the phone itself as the key to both identity and payment access. Dark Reading highlights sharp national differences — for example, Mexico saw account takeover attempts surge by more than 300%, Brazil experienced a 340% jump in stolen-device incidents, and Colombia faced rising phishing, SIM swapping, and malware activity — while Argentina stands out as a partial success story after launching a real-time fraud intelligence-sharing network that reduced mule activity. The article’s conclusion is that static defenses are no longer enough: banks need layered, collaborative defenses that combine technical controls with broader intelligence-sharing and contextual fraud analysis.

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Source: https://www.darkreading.com/cyberattacks-data-breaches/fraud-mobile-first-latin-america