Peru Leads Digital Fraud in Regional Surveys

Update September 4, 2026: Experian Peru adjusted its regional measurement with a country-specific figure that now places the share of people who received at least one digital fraud attempt in the last 12 months at 73.5%. The same report added that 36.5% faced multiple attempts in that period, and 88% say these attacks increased compared with the previous year.

Experian, cited by Bloomberg Línea, reported that 74% of people surveyed across five Latin American markets in Peru said they received at least one fraud attempt over the past year, the highest figure among the countries analyzed. In that same report, Peru ranked ahead of Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Panama, while the most commonly reported tactics were messages or chats, undelivered products or services, unauthorized transactions and cases tied to mobile apps.

What do the regional comparisons show?

Peru led the measurement with 74% of people exposed to at least one fraud attempt over the last year, according to the Experian report cited by Bloomberg Línea. Mexico followed with 72%, Colombia with 71%, Chile with 70% and Panama with 68%.

Bloomberg Línea’s same coverage on Peru also said that 71% of people surveyed in Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Peru and Panama received at least one fraud attempt over the past year, and that 82% believe these incidents have increased. That finding reinforces the picture of mounting pressure on users across the region, with Peru again among the most exposed markets.

Which tactics were reported most often?

The fraud attempts that appeared most often in the report were messages or chats, at 25%, undelivered products or services, at 22%, unauthorized transactions, at 20%, and cases tied to mobile apps, at 19%, according to Bloomberg Línea.

That snapshot aligns with recent cases in Peru showing how digital fraud relies on everyday channels. In Lambayeque, for example, reports surfaced about a fake Claro 5G app and WhatsApp cloning, with thefts that can exceed S/ 20,000 in a single operation, according to Diario Correo.

What do the latest studies say about Peru?

A Peru-specific Experian study cited by Forbes Perú says that 73.5% of Peruvians received at least one digital fraud attempt in the last 12 months, and 36.5% say they faced repeated attempts during that period. The same report, published by El Comercio, says 88% believe attempts increased compared with the previous year, 1% think they declined and 11% say they stayed the same.

The same study showed differences by age and location. The 35 to 44 age group had the highest exposure, at 76%, while among people over 65 the figure fell to 58%. In Lima, 75% reported at least one fraud attempt versus 71% in the provinces, and repeated incidents affected 39% of Lima residents compared with 31% elsewhere in the country, according to Infobae Perú.

Gestión, citing another Experian report, said 73.5% of Peruvians reported experiencing at least one digital fraud attempt in the last year, a figure that reaches 75% in Lima. The same report said more than a third, 36.5%, suffered repeated attacks, and that almost nine in 10 Peruvians believe digital fraud attempts increased in 2026 compared with 2025.

How does the reporting and exposure context look?

According to Ministry of Public Prosecution figures released by Agencia Andina, computer fraud is the most reported cybercrime in Peru. Authorities recommend immediately reporting any transfer or transaction that is not recognized to the bank and to the Prosecutor's Office so new digital fraud methods can be investigated.

Infobae Perú, using data from the National Police complaint system (Sidpol), reported that 42,161 complaints for computer crimes were recorded in Peru in 2024, of which 28,612 were for computer fraud, about 68% of the total. That figure gives an official sense of the scale of cases linked to digital fraud.

The problem also extends beyond end users and reaches the productive sector. A study cited by local media said more than 45 billion cyberattack attempts were recorded in Peru in 2024, and that 83% of SMEs see themselves as more vulnerable than large companies, according to Serperuano.

There is also a particularly exposed group: according to a Kaspersky study cited by Peruvian press, 67% of Peruvians over 60 do not know whether their personal information has been leaked online, increasing their vulnerability to social engineering, extortion and phone-based and digital fraud attempts.