Overview

• Spanish police forces and consumer group OCU warn of a summer spike in phishing and smishing campaigns impersonating holiday booking platforms with bogus deals and the DGT with fake fine notices.
• Scammers enhance credibility using stolen travel-platform data, phone-number spoofing, AI-generated voices, screen-sharing tactics and malware links.
• Banco de España reports that nearly €500 million was lost in 2024 through fraudulently induced electronic payments.
• Courts, including the Audiencia de Badajoz, are ruling that payments made under deception are unauthorized and must be refunded by banks.
• Platforms like WhatsApp have deactivated millions of accounts and introduced in-app fraud alerts as authorities urge users to enable two-step verification, avoid unknown links and verify contacts.