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MEXICO
#3 GI-TOC (7.68)
FRAUD TYPES
Account takeover (+324%), ransomware, cartel-linked cybercrime, call center scams
KEY FACTS
78 ransomware attacks (2025). ATO quadrupled 2024-2026. Golden Mexican Wolf group uses physical penetration tactics.
REPORT FRAUD IN MEXICO2▸
2 agencies you can contact. Tap one for how to reach it and what to have ready.
CONCONDUSEF Financial Consumer Protection▸
NATIONAL · CONSUMER
GNCGuardia Nacional Cybercrime▸
NATIONAL · CYBER / CRYPTO
BORN HERE▸
Nobody in our case files was born in Mexico yet.
OPERATED HERE1▸
Physically based or working in Mexico — lived, ran an office, met victims or was stationed here, per the record. Hacking a target here does not count.
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
WHAT THEY DID HERE, AND WHEN
26 Mar 2018Arrested and deported to the United States.SOURCE: DOJ
OUR CASES BY CATEGORY▸
Share of the 1 case tied to Mexico (born or operated here)
FRAUD METHODS TIED HERE4▸
From the Global Fraud Encyclopedia and the cases above. Tap a method for its page.
#29 Pyramid Scheme / MLM Fraudused in our cases ▸#30 Embezzlementused in our cases ▸#41 Forex FraudEncyclopedia ▸#56 Timeshare Fraud / Resale ScamEncyclopedia ▸KNOWN FOR▸
THE PICTURE▸
Fraud in Mexico ranges from extortion calls and fake-kidnapping ('virtual kidnapping') scams to timeshare fraud aimed at US and Canadian owners, which the FBI and US Treasury have linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (FBI, 2024; OFAC, 2024). Large-scale diversion of public funds has also led to prosecutions of former state governors, and federal auditors documented the 'Estafa Maestra' scheme that routed ministry money through universities and shell companies (ASF / Animal Político, 2017). Enforcement involves the Fiscalía General de la República, the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), the CONDUSEF consumer-finance agency and close cooperation with US prosecutors.
TOP FRAUDSTERS FROM HERE2▸
Javier Duarte CONVICTEDREPORT PENDING
Not quantified in sentence (fine of MXN 58,000) · 2010–2016
Former governor of Veracruz sentenced for money laundering and criminal association after diverting state funds; arrested in Guatemala in 2017.
SOURCE: Mexican federal court, 2018 (sentence upheld 2020)
Tomás Yarrington PLEADED GUILTYREPORT PENDING
Not fixed in plea; investigators alleged >$8.5M from cartels (allegation) · 1999–2004
Former governor of Tamaulipas who pleaded guilty in the US to money laundering tied to bribes taken in office.
SOURCE: US DOJ (SD Texas), Mar 2021
FRAUD BY CATEGORY▸
No official body here publishes a breakdown of fraud by type, so we show none rather than guess.
WHO FIGHTS IT▸
Fiscalía General de la República (FGR) and state prosecutors; UIF freezes accounts linked to fraud and laundering.
US Treasury OFAC sanctions (2024) against individuals and companies running CJNG-linked timeshare fraud in Jalisco.
CONDUSEF handles consumer complaints on banking fraud and publishes fraud-claim statistics.
SOURCES▸
FBI, timeshare fraud warning, 2024
US Treasury OFAC, CJNG timeshare-fraud designations, 2024
Wikipedia summary of Javier Duarte court record
US DOJ, Yarrington plea, Mar 2021
Case lists and figures compiled September 2026 from court records, regulators and major press; statuses change. Series reports above are fact-checked case files.