One in five crimes committed in Spain are cybernetic, and in view of this wave of online crime, the Ministry of the Interior has launched a campaign with the aim of warning about SIM card cyber-scams and false online sales, among others, with awareness campaigns for the danger of these operations.
The SIM swapping or duplicate card scam is one of those that the Civil Guard has denounced, which allows cybercriminals to make bank transfers, change the access data to online banking, passwords or the enabled telephone number to receive messages, in addition to selling this information to third parties in specialized cybercrime forums.
For this reason, the Civil Guard recommends “always consult with the operator in the event of loss of coverage without an apparent explanation”, as well as when there are “charges for multiSIM services never contracted or confirmation messages that come from the bank without have previously been requested.
In addition to this recurring scam, the National Police has also joined the campaign by informing about how to safely use online platforms for buying and selling second-hand products, as well as warning about how “cybercriminals take advantage of your trust to sell illegally acquired products.
According to the authorities, cybercriminals “use these platforms to offer products at prices well below market prices” with which they attract the attention of buyers, and then resort to the so-called “triangular scam”: they obtain bank card details , they acquire the official product for its market price and endorse the buyer the double cost of the original product and that of the supposed bargain, to later collect in full.
To combat this type of crime, the National Police recommends “distrusting” offers that are too attractive, reviewing reviews and “suspicious” of all types of communications and payments that have to be made outside of buying and selling platforms. And most importantly: never provide affiliation data or ID photos, something that these cybercriminals could take advantage of to commit future crimes.
