How to Report Cybercrime and Online Fraud in Ecuador (2026)

Ecuador is a sovereign country with its own police, prosecutors and cyber authorities, so if you are scammed or hacked here the path to help runs through the Fiscalía General del Estado and the Policía Nacional. One detail catches almost everyone out: the well-known 1800-DELITO line is an anonymous tip line, not a way to file a complaint. This guide shows you who to contact, how to preserve evidence, and how to try to get your money back. Act fast: the sooner you tell your bank, the better your odds.

Primary sources: ECU 911 · Fiscalía General del Estado · EcuCERT (ARCOTEL) · Superintendencia de Bancos · Superintendencia de Protección de Datos Personales

First: stop the loss

1. Contact your bank or card issuer immediately. If you sent money or shared card details, call the number on your card or statement, report the fraud, and ask them to stop or recall the payment and freeze the account. For card payments, ask about a chargeback. Our chargeback guide explains how.
2. Stop all contact with the scammer. Never send more money to "release" or "verify" funds, and never install remote-access software a caller asks for. That is the scam. Block the number, email and account.
3. Secure your accounts by changing passwords, signing out other devices and turning on two-step verification. If you clicked a link, see what to do after clicking a phishing link.
4. Keep evidence: screenshots, payment references, phone numbers, account details and the exact wording of any messages.

Who to report to

• Emergency or a crime in progress: call 911 (ECU 911).
• Fraud with a financial loss: file a denuncia with the Fiscalía General del Estado in person, either at a flagrancy unit within 24 hours of the incident or at a Sistema de Atención Integral office. Filing is free and needs no lawyer. The Policía Nacional's Unidad Nacional de Ciberdelito then investigates.
• Note on 1800-DELITO: this is an anonymous tip line, not a complaint channel. It will not open a case or give you a reference for a bank claim. If you have actually been defrauded, go to the Fiscalía in person.
• A cyber attack, hacking or vulnerability: report to EcuCERT, the national CERT under regulator ARCOTEL, at ecucert.gob.ec or [email protected].
• Fake or unauthorised financial entities: the Superintendencia de Bancos takes reclamos and "ghost entity" reports.

Reporting does not by itself return your money, but it creates an official record and feeds investigations. Report even if you did not lose money, because it still helps authorities track offenders.

Getting your money back

Ecuador has used the US dollar as its official currency since dollarisation in 2000, so amounts are already in dollars. How you paid decides your options, and speed is everything.

How you paid	What to do
Bank transfer (USD)	Call your bank within minutes to try to stop or recall the payment. Ask whether it will reimburse you, and file a claim in writing.
Debit or credit card	Ask your card issuer for a chargeback and dispute the transaction in writing. Card payments carry the strongest protection.
Crypto, cash app or gift cards	Rarely recoverable. Report to the platform and the Fiscalía at once, and beware "recovery agents" who contact you, that is usually a second scam.

There is no automatic refund guarantee for bank transfers. File your denuncia, claim from your bank, and escalate a refusal through the Superintendencia de Bancos.

Scams that hit Ecuador

Ecuadorian authorities have warned repeatedly about:

• Phishing campaigns flagged by the Ministry of Telecommunications (MINTEL), impersonating banks, delivery services and government agencies.
• Fake "bono" cash-transfer scams sent over WhatsApp, Facebook and Telegram, promising a government subsidy in exchange for personal or banking details.
• "Ghost" unauthorised financial entities, unlicensed firms posing as banks or lenders. The Superintendencia de Bancos flagged well over a hundred of these in 2025 and 2026 alone. See how this messaging works in our explainer on how phishing works and how to stop it.

The law and your data

Computer offences in Ecuador, including unauthorised access, interception and misuse of data, fall under the Código Orgánico Integral Penal (COIP) of 2014, in the group of articles covering informatic offences (roughly articles 229 to 234; check the current COIP text for exact numbering in force). Your personal data is protected by the Ley Orgánica de Protección de Datos Personales (LOPDP) of 2021, regulated by the Superintendencia de Protección de Datos Personales (SPDP), notifiable through servicios.spdp.gob.ec. We could not independently verify a specific breach-notification deadline under the LOPDP, so we are not stating one; check spdp.gob.ec for the current requirement.

FAQ

Can I report a scam online or by phone in Ecuador?

Not for a formal complaint. Fraud denuncias must be filed in person at the Fiscalía General del Estado, either at a flagrancy unit or a Sistema de Atención Integral office. 1800-DELITO only takes anonymous tips and cannot open a case for you.

My email or social media was hacked. Who do I tell?

Secure the account first: change the password, sign out other devices and turn on two-step verification. Report to EcuCERT, and go to the Fiscalía in person if money, identity or business communications were affected.

I only got a suspicious message and lost nothing. Should I still report it?

Yes, pass it on anonymously through 1800-DELITO, or notify EcuCERT if it looks like phishing or hacking. It helps authorities track patterns even without a formal complaint.

Sources: ECU 911 · Fiscalía General del Estado · EcuCERT (ARCOTEL) · Superintendencia de Bancos · Superintendencia de Protección de Datos Personales

If you have been targeted, you are not alone. See our country-by-country cybercrime help hub for step-by-step reporting and recovery guides.