Police in Spain Warn Against Scammers Who Pretend to Have Your Family Member Held Hostage!

This Friday the Guardia Civil has had to send out a warning to residents in Spain about a new wave of scams which involve people pretending to have a family member held hostage in exchange for money.

THE scammers try to extort anywhere from €2,000 to €10,000 from the families.

For now, the majority of these calls have only been detected in Madrid, however, the police are following up an array of reports.

In order to incite fear, the scammers pretend to be the ‘supposed hostage’ and scream for help and money in exchange for their release.

The Guardia Civil urge any members of the public who experience this scam tactic to come forward and report it to the police.

They have also released a guideline for residents in case they do suffer from this scam.

Tips include:

• Do not answer any phone calls from unknown numbers
• Keep calm if you are receiving an extortion call
• Try and let them talk whilst you record the conversation
• Never give any personal details such as names or addresses during the phone call.