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The organizations Food Monitor Program (FMP) and Cuido60 warned about the sustained increase in phone scams associated with Transfermóvil in Cuba, identifying older adults as the most vulnerable group to this criminal modality that exploits the forced banking digitalization imposed by the regime without any citizen protection programs.
The most widespread method consists of calls to landlines or mobile phones where scammers impersonate intermediaries of international shipping services, announcing the supposed arrival of shipments of medication or food from abroad that must be confirmed immediately through transfers or codes in Transfermóvil.
Once the operation is executed, the funds disappear and the scammers cut off communication.
An aging and unprotected population
Cuba is one of the most aged countries in Latin America: one quarter of its population is over 60 years old and depends on minimal pensions, remittances, or increasingly scarce family support.
This situation is compounded by the fact that many of those who have emigrated leave behind their elderly family members in Cuba, an additional factor that increases the vulnerability of that demographic segment.
Many elderly people without effective family support networks leads to an increase in their isolation and dependence on phone calls to manage basic needs.
According to FMP and Cuido60, this group faces specific conditions that increase their exposure to fraud: lower digital literacy, reduced access to updated information about scams, and, in many cases, a greater tendency to trust calls that appeal to urgent needs such as medications or food.
Package scams are particularly effective precisely because they simulate an everyday and vital task for these households: the receipt of shipments from the diaspora.
The digital divide as a risk factor
FMP and Cuido60 point out that "older adults, as digital migrants, face more challenges in adapting to new technologies."
Cuido60 has documented a digital divide among older adults in Cuba caused by access restrictions, lack of training, and ageism, meaning the negative stereotypes about the technological capabilities of this group that act as an additional barrier.
This is complemented by the fact that the Cuban regime has promoted an accelerated banking digitalization since 2021 due to the cash shortage, forcing the entire population to use platforms like Transfermóvil and EnZona without accompanying financial education programs or consumer protection mechanisms.
The Banco Metropolitano eliminated printed receipts for counter transactions as of April 1, 2025, furthering that forced digitalization.
Official inaction in the face of a growing phenomenon
Organizations warn that "the rise of these practices has been noted by banks and payment platforms; however, the scale of the phenomenon continues to increase due to the limited coverage by the official press, the lack of prevention strategies by official civil society bodies, as well as the inaction of the authorities."
In Las Tunas, 84% of those surveyed reported knowing at least one victim of digital scams, according to a report from April 2026.
The Bank of Credit and Commerce (Bandec) in Matanzas issued a public alert that same month warning about new deception techniques through messaging applications, but this did not lead to any structural protective measures.
Other documented variants include impersonating banks or official institutions via WhatsApp and scammers posing as shipping agencies to steal money from their victims.
FMP and Cuido60 urge the Cuban state to expand specific digital literacy programs for the elderly, improve the processing of reports regarding cybercrimes, and equip the judicial system with tools to address these types of crimes, emphasizing that "individual prevention, while necessary, does not replace the importance of structural mechanisms for protection, monitoring, and response."
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