Cundinamarca Court orders six entities to halt online Soat insurance fraud
The Cundinamarca Administrative Court ordered six state entities to strengthen controls to combat virtual fraud in Soat insurance purchases. The Financial Superintendent reported 2,870 complaints between 2022 and 2025.
Court ruling demands coordinated strategy against virtual fraud in Soat sales
The Cundinamarca Administrative Court ordered six state entities to adopt coordinated measures to prevent fraud linked to the virtual marketing of Mandatory Motor Vehicle Accident Insurance (Soat), according to infobae.com. The decision was set out in Ruling 181 of 21 August 2026, issued by the First Section, Subsection C of the court, with a ruling by magistrate Ana Margoth Chamorro Benavides.
The ruling concluded that the defendant entities violated collective consumer rights and public safety by failing to demonstrate a comprehensive institutional response to the problem.
The lawsuit and entities involved
The popular action was filed by Camilo Araque Blanco against the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic (Dapre), the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications (MinTic), the Attorney General's Office, the Ministry of Defence—National Police—and the Financial Superintendent of Colombia.
The plaintiff sought protection of collective rights in the face of the absence of effective actions to identify and eliminate web pages, applications, telephone lines and digital platforms used to impersonate authorised insurers or intermediaries. Through these fraudulent channels, false or non-existent policies were being offered to citizens seeking to comply with the legal obligation to purchase the insurance.
More than 2,800 complaints in three years
The Financial Superintendent recorded 2,870 complaints of possible fraud or identity theft in virtual Soat purchases between 2022 and the first half of 2025. The departments with the highest concentration of reports were Cundinamarca, with 1,183 cases; Antioquia, with 535; and Valle del Cauca, with 340.
In its analysis, the court examined the actions reported by each entity and their legal competencies in matters of supervision, digital security, crime investigation and consumer protection.
Fines to insurers and prior measures
The Financial Superintendent reported having carried out inspection visits, requests to insurance companies, administrative orders and financial education campaigns. It also reported sanctioning processes that resulted in fines: 900 million pesos to Mundial de Seguros, 500 million pesos to Seguros del Estado, 500 million pesos to Suramericana and 700 million pesos to AXA Colpatria. La Previsora was given a warning. According to the file, these decisions became final.
The administrative orders issued in 2023 to five insurers included the suspension of practices of non-issuance of insurance, the guarantee of permanent provision throughout the national territory and the strengthening of digital channels.
For its part, the National Police stated that the DIJIN (National Bureau of Criminal Investigation), with support from the Police Cybernetic Centre and in coordination with the Attorney General's Office and the Technical Investigation Body (CTI), was conducting investigations to identify and prosecute those responsible for fraudulent marketing. Details of those actions were subject to legal confidentiality.
The Attorney General's Office reported on active investigations related to illegal Soat issuance during the 2021-2025 period. Nevertheless, the court warned that the statistical data presented did not allow it to establish concrete results in terms of prevention, prosecution or dismantling of structures engaged in these conduct.
The court questions lack of coordination
In the court's view, the actions recorded did not demonstrate the existence of a coordinated, preventive and permanent state strategy that would guarantee safe Soat acquisition through virtual channels.
The ruling stated that a large part of the measures reported corresponded to responses following the materialisation of fraud, and found insufficient evidence to determine that institutional actions were pertinent, adequate and timely given the magnitude of the problem.
The court also questioned that some entities claimed lack of competency without proving a joint response capable of addressing the situation. The order emphasised that their functions, although different, are related to prevention, surveillance, investigation, control and coordination in relation to risks arising from fraudulent insurance marketing.
The court indicated that consumer protection could not be limited to recommendations to avoid fraud, but required conditions that enabled policy acquisition through secure digital channels.
Specific orders to entities
The ruling ordered the Financial Superintendent to formulate and implement, within six months following the ruling becoming final, a plan to ensure that insurers offer secure digital channels for Soat acquisition and adopt early fraud detection mechanisms. The entity shall submit semi-annual reports to the committee responsible for verifying compliance with the decision and reporting on progress of the orders issued to insurers in 2023.
The Attorney General's Office was ordered to strengthen investigative strategies related to crimes associated with fraudulent insurance marketing and consolidate periodic statistical information on ongoing investigations, with semi-annual reports to the monitoring committee.
Source: Google News CO — Crime