It has been reported in the past weeks that consumers are receiving cold calls and emails from people pretending to be working for the Bank of Spain or Banco de España.

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A SCAM!!!!

The fraudulent message goes as follows:

From: Banco De España <bancodeespana.overseas@yahoo.com>

Dear Mr & Mrs XXXXX,We wish to inform you that we have tried contacting you via telephone call as we have received a notification from the court in Malaga. Translation of notification:

‘The bank of Spain wish to inform you that we have received a document from the court of Malaga, Juzgados de Malaga, Calle Fiscal Luis Portero García, 0, 29010 Málaga, Spain, regarding a compensation claim from the director of the company “European Finance Solutions, EFS, Excalibur, Level 9 Resolutions SL, Sun Travel International, Half Moon Holdings, Principle Travel, Simple Timeshare Sales, Freewall Solutions, End Vacation, Iberian Dream Homes, Holiday Rentals Direct, Breakaway Vacation, Selling Time, Timeshare Resale, Emerald Rock Holdings, Blue Chip, Blue Diamond, Fast Line, etc”.

In your case it showed that you had paid money in to account/s of the company/s in mention. May we inform you that your information was found among their bank statements as having paid them money.

May we also remind you that they traded under many company names, if you have paid any other company it is most then likely linked to this company.

The document states that the director of aforementioned company has been found guilty of fraud and money laundering in Europe.

The Judge at the hearing ruled that all remaining funds in accounts linked to the aforementioned company is to be divided equally amongst claimants, as there was insufficient evidence of how much each client of theirs had paid, as they traded under many different company names, they used many different payment methods and many different bank accounts.

May we inform you that we have heard from other victims of fraud that they have been contacted by third parties in other countries, claiming to be courts, or companies that can claim money back, this information is wrong, please may we advise that you be very careful with whom you deal with and if any company or any third party asks for your credit or debit card details, DO NOT GIVE THAT INFORMATION TO THEM. Since 2011 it has been illegal for anyone to request that information and take payment when the matter has anything to do with timeshare.

In the case of XXXX XXXXX & XXXX XXXXX, contact number 0044XXXXXXXX, a total of £31,386 is due to be remitted.’

As discussed, issues surrounding money laundering problems in Spain mean that amounts over €10,000 are to be checked for money laundering and fraud purposes.

Having run all checks against your payment it has been approved as it has been classed as a ‘compensation claim’ and will be sent directly to you from the courts.

Spanish tax laws dictate that amounts greater than €10.000 relating to compensation payments are subject to a temporary tax payment which must be paid in advance of authorisation being granted to release your funds.

The temporary tax payment is 4%.

If you are a pensioner or over the age of 65 the temporary tax is lowered to 2%.

As a British resident you are not liable for Spanish tax and therefore this is classed as a temporary payment which will be refunded to you within 14 working days of receipt.

The amount payable is £1,255.44.

The amount payable if you are a pensioner is of £627.72.

Upon receipt of funds we will apply for the necessary authorisation on your behalf, this is a formality after-which you have two options to receive your payment, either bank transfer or cheque.

Please note that should you decide to proceed and claim your compensation you will no longer be able to take any further legal action against the aforementioned company.

Should you require any further clarification you may reply to this email with any questions you have, if proceeding you will need to inform us in advance which method of payment you prefer.

You may contact your case handler on the following number 0034 603 142 583, please ask to speak to English department office.

If you wish to receive via e-mail information with regards to how to protect yourself against fraud please notify us.

With kind regards.
Administration.
Bank of Spain, Banco de España.
Overseas DPT.

______________________________________________________

If you received this fake and fraudulent email, please do let us know.

DO NOT PAY! There is no money waiting for you.

You can contact us through the CONTACT form or by email customercare@mindtimeshare.com