Five Linked to Trial Over Face-Photo Banking Fraud Scheme That Drained Nearly 18 Million Pesos

The Fiscalía General de Justicia CDMX secured the vinculación a proceso (formal criminal charges) of five suspects — Anabel N, Alberto N, Fernando N, Amairani N, and Michael N — over a banking fraud ring that posed as bank employees, obtained photographs of victims' faces, and used them to register banking apps on other devices to execute unauthorized transfers. Between February and March 2023, one financial institution had logged 67 complaints from account holders totaling nearly 18 million pesos in unrecognized charges. Arrest warrants were carried out August 5 in Álvaro Obregón, Cuauhtémoc, Iztacalco, and Iztapalapa, plus Tlalnepantla in Estado de México, by PDI agents and SSC police. At an August 10 hearing, a judge ordered all five held in preventive detention; the group is alleged to have operated across CDMX, Estado de México, Puebla, and San Luis Potosí.