During the most recent edition of Hot Sale, millions of users participated in one of the country’s most important e-commerce campaigns. While the event represented a significant business opportunity, it also revealed a growing structural challenge: the steady rise of digital fraud during periods of high demand.
Antonio Fajer, president of Pentafon, warned that fraud attempts during these dates increase by an average of 60% each year, driven by increasingly sophisticated tactics. “Criminals have perfected techniques such as spoofing websites or using fake calls to obtain sensitive information. In many cases, the risk lies not only with the end user but also in the lack of secure infrastructure on the part of companies,” he noted.
These vulnerabilities are not minor. According to PwC, 45% of organizations in Latin America have suffered at least one major cybersecurity incident in the past 12 months, often linked to failures in digital architecture for customer service, payments, or identity validation.
Structural risks and shared responsibility
Fajer identified two common vectors in online fraud:
Fake websites that imitate official sites, designed to intercept data and payments.
Information theft through social engineering — emails, messages, or calls impersonating banks or retailers.
Both schemes exploit human error as well as technological gaps. Weak authentication, lack of real-time monitoring, and absence of multichannel validation policies create vulnerable environments.
Fajer stressed that companies must build certified and updated cybersecurity ecosystems, incorporating international standards such as PCI DSS v4 and ISO/IEC 27001, while integrating detection, encryption, and digital traceability technologies. These elements should not be seen as operating costs but as strategic investments to ensure business continuity and customer protection.
In fact, according to Harvard’s Cybersecurity Guide, companies with advanced data protection policies are 43% more efficient at recovery after incidents and up to 30% more likely to retain customers in contexts of reputational crisis.
Scalability with security: a priority during peak seasons
Another crucial point highlighted by Fajer is the need for technology providers capable of scaling massive operations without compromising security. “During high-volume campaigns, operational capacity alone is not enough; what’s needed is a prepared ecosystem with traceability, channel redundancy, and active 24/7 monitoring,” he emphasized.
At Pentafon, this response capacity relies on international certifications, hybrid cloud infrastructure, AI for early risk detection, and specialized teams in operational continuity and data protection — all backed by compliance indicators audited by international entities.
This approach also responds to increasingly conscious consumer demands. A Yale School of Management study shows that 71% of digital buyers would be willing to switch providers if they detect unsafe data-handling practices. In other words, loyalty now depends not only on experience but also on trust.
Security as part of the customer experience
Fajer concludes that aligning customer experience with robust security frameworks will be key to sustaining long-term relationships. He also highlights the shared responsibility of consumers: it is essential that they remain informed and demand minimum protection measures, such as certified payment environments, transparent data policies, and official customer service channels.
In line with this, Mexico’s Ministry of Economy has recently promoted guidelines to enhance digital consumer protection, encouraging the adoption of international standards and best practices across the e-commerce ecosystem.