So much Free market What Payment Market They are two platforms that have taken on important relevance in Latin America, because different economic transactions and commercial activities are carried out through them.
However, just as they have managed to captivate millions of users throughout the region, scammers and cybercriminals who profit from the traps they set for their victims have also slipped in.
In addition, a person can not only be a victim of cybercrime through malware, but also If your phone is lost or stolen, it could also put your Mercado Pago and Mercado Libre accounts at risk. Even Camilo Gutierrez Amaya, a cybersecurity expert at Eset, says that “Unfortunately, many people who lost their phones or were victims of theft of their devices, also suffered the theft of money in their Mercado Pago accounts, as could be seen in different Twitter threads.
And it is that through threads in this social network many users have told stories of how their Mercado Pago accounts have been vacated just after losing their devices, they have even come to request credits on behalf of the victims for what is counted in the platform.
“In the year 2022, In countries like Argentina, a large number of complaints were registered from people who first suffered the theft of their phones and then emptied the accounts of their digital wallets” says the cybersecurity expert.
But it should be noted that although the risk of suffering bank account theft when the phone is lost is latent, Internet traps are still the order of the day, so it is recommended to stay alert with phishing threats, computer viruses, malicious websites and suspicious messages on social networks.
The cyber security company suggests that if the account has already been detected to have been compromised, You must report immediately to the site or the bank to block any type of movement or transaction to be made in the name of the affected party.
In the case of Mercado Pago and Mercado Libre, Once the corresponding report has been made, a response will be received 48 hours later informing the steps that must be taken to recover the account. Therefore, it is important to make the entity aware of what happened as soon as possible, so that the criminal’s actions can be traced.
Likewise, it is important to report what happened to the corresponding institution in each country so that access to some functions of the device such as the mobile signal and connectivity is blocked, and in the same way, go to the security aids of Android or iOS, as the case may be to prevent complete access to the cell phone and prevent the thief from erasing the stored information.
What to do once access to Mercado Pago and Mercado Libre has been restored
As soon as access to the accounts has been restored, the passwords should be changed to ones that are difficult to crack and that are not used to access other services, in addition, It would be ideal to activate the authentications in two steps, this way it will be more complicated to re-intervene the account from another device.
The cybersecurity company also explains that it does not hurt to activate the entry to the applications with fingerprints, patterns, pins or facial detection, since in this way a layer of security is added to the associated accounts. It is also important to change the SIM card in case the inconvenience has been generated due to theft or loss of the cell phone, according to Eset experts.
On the other hand, most Latin American countries have an entity in which bank account thefts resulting from a cyber attack can be reported, these are the corresponding institutions for each nation.
– UFECI (Specialized Cybercrime Unit) in Argentina
– CNS (National Security Commission) and the Cyber Police in Mexico
– CSIRT (Computer Security Incident Response Team) in Chile
– ColCert (Colombian Cyber Emergencies Response Group) in Colombia
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