NATIONAL Police in Spain have warned of an email scam claiming the recipient is required to appear before the ministry of the interior for an interrogation, or court hearing.
Both use what appears to be an authentic ministry logo, and purport to have been sent from the police or from the national post office, Correos.
Once opened, the messages infect the user's phone or computer with a virus which gives hackers access to their personal data, stealing online banking PIN codes and other sensitive information.
This opens the door to identity theft and can result in fraudulent financial transactions carried out by the authors of the virus.
Several users have reported problems of this type just by opening the emails – without even clicking on any links in them – making them particularly dangerous and highly effective.
Police say summons for court hearings would never be sent by email, and warn the public not to open any messages coming from policia@gobierno.es, asesorjuridico@dian.gov.org, nor any apparently from Correos.
They have posted a picture of the logo on the National Police Twitter site, @Policía, under the hashtag #NoPiques ('Don't fall for it'), as shown above.
