La Guàrdia Urbana de L"Hospitalet has warned of an increase in people scammed by vishing in recent months, a modality of telephone fraud in which criminals impersonate the identity of large companies to obtain banking data from the victims.
The municipal police force has specified that the scammers impersonate above all as banks or as electricity and gas supply companies. The call seeks to generate a situation of urgency or sufficient trust for the user to provide sensitive information. The final objective is to access current accounts and empty them.
Impersonation of companies and pressure on the victim
In these cases, the authors of the fraud often use names, addresses or other personal data previously obtained through other means. With that information they try to give an appearance of legitimacy to the call and increase the pressure on the person who receives it.
The Guàrdia Urbana insists that no company can request bank details by phone. It also reminds that passwords, verification codes, or personal data should not be provided during this type of communication.
Police recommendation regarding suspicious calls
In case of any doubt, the recommendation is to cut the call and contact directly with the company through its official channels. The local police asks to exercise extreme caution before unexpected contacts that claim economic or personal information, especially if the interlocutor tries to accelerate the user's decision.
The warning comes after detecting more cases in the city in recent months, in a context in which this type of telephone scams continues to affect users who believe they are talking to a real entity when in reality they are being subjected to a scam.