Spain’s State Public Employment Service (SEPE) recently issued an urgent security warning through its official social media platforms, alerting residents in Spain to be highly vigilant against a recent surge in new phone scam activities. It is reported that criminals are exploiting specific premium-rate prefixes to steal victims’ sensitive personal data and bank account information.
Beware of Fraudulent Calls from Specific Prefixes
According to tracking and reports from Spanish national administrative departments, the latest scam calls mostly begin with special prefixes such as 800 or 807. These fraudulent activities usually involve a double trap: on one hand, scammers will induce or even coerce victims into providing detailed bank card information and personal privacy during the call; on the other hand, this new type of telecommunications fraud also involves billing traps, where victims may be maliciously charged high communication fees during the call or operation process.
Recognize the Only Official Contact Channels
In response to increasingly rampant telecommunications fraud, Spain’s State Public Employment Service (SEPE) has reiterated its official communication channels to help the public effectively distinguish authenticity. SEPE solemnly emphasizes that the only official daily contact hotline recognized by the agency is 060. In addition, if citizens need to apply for business appointments, they should directly call the official designated appointment line at 91 926 79 70. Any calls from numbers other than the above, if claiming to represent SEPE for administrative operations, should be considered highly suspicious.
Anti-Fraud Advice from Experts and Officials
In the face of scammers disguised as public administrative agencies, relevant law enforcement departments and security experts have provided clear response guidance:
Scammers often invent severe reasons such as “urgent procedural processing” or “account abnormalities,” creating a tense atmosphere by continuously applying pressure to force victims to react quickly in a panic. Experts advise that when receiving any calls requesting financial data or core personal information, the public must remain calm and absolutely refuse to be influenced by such rhetoric.
Furthermore, without personally verifying the authenticity of the institution through official legitimate channels, absolutely never disclose any personal data. If there is any doubt about the caller, the safest approach is to decisively hang up and actively dial SEPE’s official number (060) for manual verification and confirmation.
