Although it is true that we are already a little tired of knowing telephone scams, the truth is that they are a criminal activity that has no prospect of disappearing in the short term. In addition, airing cases in public can help prevent anyone else falling into the trap, or at least prevent the same modus operandi from being used. In this case, we have to mention that a call center has been dismantled by the National Police that scammed by telephone, pretending to be intermediaries of delinquency files, reaching users up to 30 minutes on the phone .
Agents of the National Police have confirmed the dismantling of a call center that, allegedly, was scamming using the dangerous premium rate numbers. There are victims throughout Spain who had fallen into the “trap” by posing as intermediaries for delinquency files . To eliminate debt, users were invited to call premium numbers.
Premium Rate Numbers Scam
The investigation dates back to the end of 2019 when the National Police received a complaint from the National Association of Financial Establishments (ASNEF). In this they explain that they had detected several websites that offered management services for the rights of access, rectification, cancellation and opposition (ARCO rights) in the assets and credit solvency files existing in Spain.
These services were offered supposedly free of charge, although nothing could be further from the truth. Users were invited to make multiple calls to premium rate numbers. All this was done in an unjustified and fraudulent manner , which was a significant detriment to users who were encouraged to follow the process proposed by these companies.
The reality is that the companies that manage the capital and credit solvency files have a free service so that users can find out what data are held in ASNEF and request their rectification or cancellation. Criminals used the premium rate numbers for profit and then went through the free process on behalf of the person who contacted them.
The National Police agents managed to locate the company behind the website that offered the services that, in addition to all of the above, used registered trademarks without permission to convey a sense of credibility and legality. In this way, users thought that they were in front of the true owners of these files.
In the calls they managed to entertain users for up to 30 minutes (the maximum set by law for these calls) using various techniques such as long silences or simulating that they were carrying out procedures. In addition, even if the user was not in any file, he was always told that he was in a minimum of two of these files. Those responsible for the scam obtained in 2019 more than 700,000 euros with these calls.