The CNMV warns: when love and friendship are used to scam people

BarcelonaThe proliferation of scams and investment frauds based on love and a supposed friendship has prompted intervention from the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). The Spanish stock market regulator has decided to issue a warning given the high number of such cases. Although they don't reach such a specific segmentation or categorization by "love scams," data from the Ministry of the Interior reveals that last year there were 412,850 complaints of computer scams or cyber scams, of which 72,139 were related to such scams. While these figures are lower than those of 2023, they are significantly higher than in previous years, such as 267,011 in Spain as a whole and 61,607 in Catalonia in 2022, and 335,995 and 61,607, respectively, demonstrating that... According to the CNMV (Spanish National Securities Market Commission), these types of scams that appeal to feelings and emotions "usually begin very innocently: you meet someone online through social media, a dating app, an investment WhatsApp group, or even through a text message saying 'something'." The thing is, "before you know it, you're exchanging messages every day," without ever physically seeing the person. A recurring element is that the scammer appears to be wealthy, travels a lot, and has everything thanks to investing in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, gold, or other currencies. And therein lies one of the key elements: they are willing to teach how to achieve the same lifestyle they supposedly enjoy through recommended apps, accompanied by charts and data that reflect enormous returns. The problem is that when the person who is convinced wants to withdraw their money, there's no way to do so, and the supposed friend has disappeared. The CNMV (Spanish National Securities Market Commission) advises reporting these incidents immediately to the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police), the National Police, or the Guardia Civil (Spanish Civil Guard), and assures that anyone can be a victim. The agency offers numerous tips to avoid these scams. In fact, even video calls cannot serve as cover because the most experienced perpetrators of these practices can resort to artificial intelligence (AI). In short, one of the main recommendations is to ignore all messages, however affectionate and friendly they may be, that come from someone you don't know.