Mexico's PRI calls for stronger action against phone fraud and extortion

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in the Mexican Senate urged federal and state authorities to boost permanent prevention, investigation and enforcement measures against the surge in telephone fraud and digital extortion. Senators highlighted that criminal groups have refined tactics such as phishing, smishing, vishing, cloning of messaging accounts, false kidnappings, bogus job offers, fraudulent investment schemes and the use of artificial‑intelligence‑generated audio and video deepfakes to deceive victims.

The party appealed to the Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection, the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport, the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency, the Attorney General’s Office and state governments to strengthen public awareness campaigns, foster a culture of cybersecurity, improve inter‑institutional coordination, and develop mechanisms for identifying, monitoring and blocking suspicious phone numbers and platforms, while respecting human rights and personal data protection.

Citing official statistics, the PRI noted that fraud was the leading crime in Mexico in 2023 with 6,962 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants, while extortion ranked third with 5,213 per 100,000. Additional data from the 2024 National Public Security Census recorded 4,114 cyber‑extortion incidents, 4,504 diverse fraud cases, 6,303 e‑commerce‑related frauds and over 10,300 password thefts from social networks. The party warned that many victims fail to report these crimes, hampering law‑enforcement’s ability to identify criminal patterns and dismantle organized fraud networks.