Panama's Banking Regulator Sounds the Alarm on Financial Fraud

By De Puy & Asociados

Panama is facing a growing wave of financial fraud, and the country's own official symbols are being weaponized against its citizens.

The Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá (SBP) recently issued a public warning after scammers were found using the regulator's official logo — and that of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries — to make fake loan offers appear legitimate. The fraud operates mostly through social media, where unlicensed "financial companies" promise quick credit, then vanish after collecting upfront payments from victims.

The scale is significant. At least seven Panamanians fall victim to some form of financial fraud every day. Annual fraud attempts in the country reach around $125 million, with roughly $20 million resulting in actual losses. And the trend is accelerating: Panama's National Police recorded a cybercrime increase of more than 113% between 2025 and 2026. 

The SBP's warning is straightforward — no legitimate regulated institution requires advance payments to approve a loan, and the use of official logos by any non-supervised entity is itself an irregularity. But the broader concern is about trust: when state symbols become tools of deception, the line between credible institutions and criminal impersonators blurs for ordinary people navigating financial decisions online.

The problem is not unique to Panama. The Global State of Scams Report 2025 puts worldwide fraud losses at USD 442 billion, with 57% of adults having faced a fraud attempt in the past year — and most of them believing they would have spotted it. That false confidence is precisely what sophisticated schemes exploit.

Authorities recommend verifying licenses, avoiding any upfront payment requests, and reporting suspicious activity to the Ministerio Público. But the regulator has also acknowledged what the data makes clear: by the time a warning is issued, many victims have already lost money.

How to Protect Yourself

The SBP's guidance boils down to a few practical rules:

Verify the license. Before engaging with any company offering financial services — especially one you found on social media — confirm it holds a valid license from a competent authority. Operating without authorization is one of the primary indicators of a fraudulent scheme.

Never pay upfront. Legitimate lenders do not condition loan approvals on advance payments. Full stop.

Guard your personal data. Avoid sharing sensitive information — ID numbers, account details, addresses — with any entity you cannot independently verify.

Be skeptical of urgency. Scammers frequently create artificial time pressure or unusually favorable conditions to push victims into quick decisions.

Remember that you are the first line of defense. Regulators can warn, investigate, and prosecute, but the SBP has emphasized that individual vigilance is the most effective barrier against these schemes.

Sources: Superintendencia de Bancos de Panamá (SBP); Global State of Scams Report 2025; Panama National Police cybercrime data.