Spanish regulator warns of scam firms stashing cash abroad
24 Sep 15
Spain’s financial regulator has issued a warning about unauthorised firms scamming clients out of their money by transferring funds to accounts based abroad.
Scammers use databases (often obtained fraudulently) of people who, for example, have purchased a particular financial product, publication, or on occasion answered a survey about their tastes, interests and financial situation.
When it comes to emails, recipient lists are often obtained unlawfully, in breach of data protection rules. Also, the address of origin of the messages are usually false and the subject headings are deliberately misleading. Spanish law decrees that commercial communications should be identified as such and prohibits sending emails unless they have previously been requested or expressly authorised by the recipient. No serious company would ever spam the public, as that would be invading consumer privacy.
