Guanajuato is a leader in identity theft

Guanajuato ranks third among Mexican states with the most cases of identity theft in the country.

The National Commission for Protection and Defense of Financial Services’ Users (Condusef) recorded from February 19 to April 30 this year total of 97 cases of possible identity theft in Guanajuato, of which 33 were advisory, 15 bureau lock cases and 49 conciliation proceedings.

This way, Guanajuato ranks as the third state with more identity theft cases, just below Jalisco with 165 and Mexico City with 276.

Advisory processes: an identity theft victim approaches Condusef to inquire about the proper procedures as means of defense.

Blockade of bureau: represents a three month interruption in new credit process.

Conciliation proceedings: the financial institution that issued the credit is cited to prove there was a credit application.

As a way to prevent identity theft, Condusef recommends users not to provide personal data via email, phone or on social media, constantly consult the credit bureau report, avoid express credit and acquire credit only from acredited financial institutions.

“Never provide personal information through email or telephone, never share and always protect personal data, be very careful where we leave personal documents, never create passwords on the internet that are easy to decipher, such as birth dates, your children’s or relatives’ names, etc.,” said Vicente Lopez Portillo Covarrubias, state delegate of the Condusef in Guanajuato.

Due to the relevance of identity theft issues in Guanajuato, Condusef implemented a strategy that blocks credit bureau reports. This service is granted to identity theft victims, so nobody can generate new loans or see their credit reports for a three month period.

The delegate of the Condusef explained how serious identity theft cases can get:

“Once, a user’s wife began receiving credit statements with charges for a total of $500,000 pesos ($27,000 USD). The woman kept the documents hidden for seven months, until she finally decided to show the statements to her husband and until then, the formal complaint before Condusef was issued. Fortunately this case was succesfully resolved, but many of the financial disputes do not reach agreements and people end up paying loans that they never applied for”. Lopez Portillo Covarrubias concluded.

Source: Am