'Missed call' scam warning issued

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.

It is longer than numbers tend to be, although this again does not always cause alarm bells to ring as calls from public services, such as hospitals, are typically very long and fill the phone screen.

In addition to the €1.20 a minute, simply connecting the call costs between €4 and €5, says the UCE.

Earlier this month, Local Police in the town of Lepe (Huelva province) reported a similar fraud attempt involving calls with the prefix 0021, which is Tunisia, although the rest of the numbers – nine digits starting with a 6 – appeared to be those of a Spanish mobile.

On this occasion, the calls were made between 04.00 and 04.30 in the morning mainland Spain time.

The Extremadura Consumers' Union echoes the National Police and Guardia Civil in their advice not to pick up calls from numbers of these types and certainly not to return them, since phone bills 'may increase astronomically' as a result.

They also advise to block the numbers if they receive calls from them, to avoid repeat attempts, and to report them to the police.

Blocking them may, of course, mean the scammers try from another, similar line – and mobile and landline phone customers are not necessarily immune to stunts of this type which may arise using national numbers.

The general advice is not to answer any calls where the number is unknown, but to enter the number in question into an internet search engine, where its origin will normally be logged.

Some numbers will already have been listed as unrelenting sales callers, 'silent' automatic calls from company sales departments aimed at checking when the recipient is normally available, or scams.