Noticaribe is reporting that the INM offices in downtown Cancun were robbed early this morning, the thieves getting stamps, seals, paperwork and computers with information on, well, everything. Basically if we are in the system, they've probably got our info. Sooo, I'm guessing if anyone here is in process, the process just got a little longer. Scary stuff knowing that personal information is in the hands of thieves, makes me a bit nervous at the very least. http://www.noticaribe.com.mx/cancun/2008/07/atracan_en_cancun_oficinas_de_migracion.html
Well, I guess this is the one time I'm glad that my 6 month process of my FM3 "en tramito" is in Playa and not Cancun! Had they hit Playa, it might not ever come through!!!
One has to wonder if perhaps this is a result of last weeks 2 day closing for honesty and drug testing of the employees. Just specualting, but perhaps they uncovered a problem and the robbery was commited to gain access to the seals, stamps, etc, that was beining provided previously by an "insider". The powerfull human trafficiking ring does not like their operations interrupted I'm sure. OK.. i know, I watch too many crime shows on TV.
http://radioquintanaroo.com/index.php/2008/07/17/robo-a-las-oficinas-de-migracion-en-cancun/ http://www.poresto.net/content/view/23987/1/ http://www.novenet.com.mx/portada.php?id=114272
I don´t want to imagine what can they do with our personnal informations like birth date, where we live in cancun, the names of the persons who is living with us, if we live in our own property, where we work, how much the salary ........ all the base for telefon extorsions or other bad things ....... I would like to sue the migration for how they are dealing with our personnal informations and that they are not protecting this. :evil:
It is somewhat unnerving that all of our personal data could potentially be in the hands of some less than honorable people, but on the other hand, unless you are one of the few rich gringos, its not likely that your data would be of much interest to them. (just watch your bank accounts and such, or maybe even tell you banks to change the account numbers) The newspaper this morning seems to be going along the idea that this is somehow related to the human trafficking problems, since they stole the seals and everything... to me that doesn't fly, as it would be much easier to just forge the necessary documents, rather that draw the attention of everyone by staging a dramatic robbery... in the end it may be just a random hit, or some former employee just trying to make life difficult for everyone, but one thing is for sure, and that is that everyone who has papers in the process can expect a delay... but then again that's nothing new is it... :roll:
It's long been known that there's a human smuggling mafia operating within INM in Cancun. So all of that personal data we've given them has been in the hands of undesirables since we gave it to them. This robbery doesn't necessarily mean there's a new threat, or that anyone gives a sh*t about our data. In fact, given how badly organized their files are, I'm not sure anybody could find our data if they were looking for it... Furthermore it makes sense that the thieves would not bother with stealing physical files full of data. Hell, my own file probably weighs 4 kilos just by itself. They would need to bring a semi truck to get all the data, maybe two. So if data about immigrants was stolen it would be only what was on the particular hard drives of the computers that were stolen. And it makes sense that not all data from our paper files would be typed into the computer file, they would likely only input the data critical to the actual approval of the FM3. So my guess is that things like the investment account number where I'm hiding my millions is not listed in that computer file but that basic personal data would be there. The INM mafia seems to be mostly non-violent and mostly concerned with bringing immigrants into and across Mexico and over the U.S. border. They have not, to my knowledge, been involved with extorting rich immigrants. Given how much money there is in moving illegals I don't see them switching their business model to something more violent and unpredictable, but who knows. Greg Sanchez came out today and said that this robbery was the work of the Cuban-American mafia (which is a different human smuggling mafia that has apparent ties to the INM mafia). I have no idea why he thinks this. But I'm betting he's right. And this mafia seems to be more dangerous, and has been more violent from what I've seen, than the one operating in INM (they have a reported association with the ultra-violent Zetas and are supposedly running drugs as well as humans). It makes sense that a human smuggling mafia would want stamps and blank FM3 booklets. Whoever said it's easier to make fakes ones doesn't get it. The agents I know in INM can spot a fake document in moments, often with the first touch. They take special training in document detection from international experts (it's real-live cloak and dagger stuff). Real but ill-gotten documents are much more difficult for them to detect, although they can often nail people holding these too. Stamps and blank FM2 and FM3 books should be kept in a safe. So it seems unlikely that these items could have been stolen. But INM is keeping mum on what was taken. Maybe the safe itself was taken. Stamps and booklets are uniquely numbered, so they are traceable. And, in theory, if someone tried to enter Mexico using one of these stolen FM3 booklets the computer should flag them. Whether this will happen in practice is a different matter. But it seems clear to me that the internal mafia, the INM mafia, knows this stuff. They know that stealing a box of FM3 books is detectable. They know that their business works better if they work from within the system, by working the right agents to get "legit" FM3s created as they need them. This robbery doesn't feel like an inside job to me. If the Cuban-American mafia is behind this robbery my bet is that they are simply trying to lubricate the workings of their own human smuggling operations. Maybe with the recent upheaval in INM they've lost some key contacts inside who were procuring more "legit" FM3s for them, so now they are trying to compensate for that loss of inside control. This is just a guess. Generally speaking Por Esto gets about 80% of their news on INM stuff right. They seem to have a contact inside. And they seem to throw in about 20% BS either to fill out their stories or to, maybe, protect their source (or maybe the source lies intentionally). The other newspapers are usually late to supper on INM-related topics, although it depends on the topic of course. And remember that when an official gives a statement they don't always have much reason to be completely truthful. This stuff is very political. So the shaping of public opinion is often more important to officials than the revelation of truth. In short I wouldn't worry about the stolen data much. The mafias who have a reason to break into INM's office have not shown any previous interest in extortion. And extortion is dangerous for all involved. It makes a lot more sense for them bring a boatload of Cubans over at upwards of $10K per head, the people they are making money off of are WILLING and have no reason to keep from giving them money. But if they start extorting foreigners people will fight back and it will be unpredictable. I guess what I'm saying is these people are already making a ton of money in a safer racket, so I doubt our data will be used against us, assuming they could even find it in that mess....
Thanks for the insight Rivergirl. I must admit though, the Mexican FM3/2's have never felt like a particularly secure document to me, and (in my mind at least) would be easy to produce if you had the right paper, press, and appropriate stamps, which I would expect a big money smuggling operation would be able to afford, and with people on the inside of INM they would know how to counter any of the security measures that might not be obvious to the untrained eye...
