However, the national capital is the only one where the authority —Secretaría de Seguridad Ciudadana and Fiscalía General de Justicia, coordinated by the Government of Mexico City headed by Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum— has deployed an operation to dismantle call centers since where this modus that has gained visibility in recent months was committed.
At the Citizen Council for Security and Justice of Mexico City we have identified 686 debt-heavy apps and websites, based on reports received from all over the country, and contributed to the opening of 583 investigation folders.
Even in the face of the successes of the citizens in coordination with the authorities, in 48 hours many debt-heavy organizations mutated to continue operating. It is essential to understand that crimes in the digital space have, unfortunately, a wide versatility and as long as there are no regulations in the application stores, it will be impossible to contain the emergence of new fraudulent offers.
In a post-pandemic context in which factors such as inflation, unemployment and, on the other hand, economic reactivation are combined, it is worth putting a magnifying glass on the risks that this modus represents for those who undertake.
Only 32.7% of the population has access to formal credit, according to the 2021 National Survey of Financial Inclusion, therefore, it is common for entrepreneurs to seek “simple” loans to open their businesses, equip them or have resources with marketing or production purposes.
The risk is that, knowing this, criminals pose as lenders and offer money without the conditions imposed by the banking system, such as searching the credit bureau and reviewing payment capacity.
The only thing that debt collection apps ask for, as a contract, is that the person in financial need grants them access to their contacts, photo gallery, and videos. All that information that they extract from the mobile phones of their victims gives them material to later extort, threaten and pressure.
There are several ways in which this crime is consummated. There are apps that simply download them and start the extortion process; in others, an advance is requested to grant the credit; some more only deposit a part of what was agreed upon and charge it in full, and finally there are those that deposit in full but from one day to the next they increase interest and payment terms without prior notice or agreement.
