Latin Americans fall prey to more online scams as cybersecurity lags

MEXICO CITY: Gabriella Batalha didn’t think much when she noticed she had been logged out of Instagram – until the next day when she found her account overrun with sensational posts touting high-yield cryptocurrency investments.

To recover her account, the 27-year-old lawyer from Rio de Janeiro had to pay 200 reais ($40) to a “consultant” she found on YouTube, a man she says could have been a scammer himself.