A REGIONAL watchdog has warned of a new scam involving missed calls which, when the recipient rings back, charges them €1.20 a minute.
Extremadura Consumers' Union (UCE) says the numbers are typically non-Spanish and are prefixed 225, 233, 234 or 355, and if the call is returned, transfers to a premium-rate line.
According to the UCE, these are country prefixes for Côte d'Ivoire (formerly Ivory Coast), Ghana, Nigeria and Albania respectively, meaning it is very improbable that anyone with a Spanish phone, unless they have family in these countries or are originally from them, would be contacted by an unknown number of these prefixes.
'Numerous' mobile and landline phone users have contacted the UCE in the last few days, saying that when they return the call, they hear an automated message from what claims to be a solicitors' firm handling a case concerning them.
At this point, either the message continues for 'an unnecessarily long time', or it cuts off and the caller rings back.
Many customers have been duped easily, since a missed utility bill or store card direct debit payment which crossed with their salary being received is a common occurrence and often placed straight into the hands of a legal bureau or credit-control firm.
But in this case, the bureau in question does not exist, neither does the case involved, the UCE says.
The phone number is not recognisable as either a landline – which would start with a 9 and be nine digits long – or a mobile, which starts with a 6 or, more recently with newer ones, with a 7 and is also of nine digits.
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