I have been swindled, what do I do?

If you have been cheated, it is important to know what to do. The first thing to do is to report it to the bank, the police or the consumer advice bureaux. Next, you should collect documents related to the fraud to use as evidence, such as messages from fraudsters, financial statements, contracts, etc., as these can be key elements in the investigation of a crime. If you believe you have been defrauded, you should take appropriate action, and the best course of action in such cases is to hire a criminal lawyer.

In addition, a joint lawsuit should be filed if there is more than one person involved in the fraud. Later, you will be summoned to court and you will have to bring all documents that can confirm this fact.

It is worth mentioning that in court you can ask for the return of the money invested, compensation for damages and even interest, although this is not always successful.

Types of fraud

• Transferring ownership for profit and using computer manipulation, etc.
• Creating, implementing, possessing or maintaining software designed to commit fraud.
• Using credit or debit cards or travellers' cheques to carry out transactions to the detriment of cardholders or third parties.

However, the most common frauds are the following:

• Deception: Occurs when a person is tricked with certain data to perform a desired action. This type of action can be created, for example, by entering a different name, giving an incorrect address, giving you authority, etc.
• Holiday home rental: This is a scam in which a non-existent flat is offered for sale or the conditions of the flat do not comply with the stated conditions in order to profit the cybercriminals.
• Phishing: Victims try to access a link and enter their personal data on a website that appears to be owned by a known entity but is dominated by cybercrime.
• Online shopping: A scam in which consumers pay for a product they never received or for other products with different conditions than those offered.
• Sentiment scams: These are scams carried out by impersonating or creating an identity with a false profile to gain the victim's trust, and then profiting by tricking the victim into making a bank transfer for whatever reason.
• Procedural fraud: As a consequence of a judicial process, evidence is manipulated so that the judge passes a sentence based on a manipulation error and to the detriment of the opposing party or parties or third parties.

Tips on how not to get ripped off

Being informed is the best tool to avoid fraud or at least to be alert to it. To this end:

• Make sure you back up the files you have on your computer and mobile phone regularly. Subscribe to emails and keep up to date with updates.
• Check your bank account daily and use strong, hard-to-find passwords.
• Ignore fake virus pop-ups.
• Do not give out your personal information.
• Before you buy or enter your details, check whether sites offer secure payments.

Sanctions for fraud

The common penalty for these types of offences is imprisonment of 6 months to 3 years. But in order to determine a specific penalty, it is necessary to assess the amount cheated, the economic damage caused, the relationship with the person cheated and the means used to commit the fraud.

Frauds that do not exceed 400,00 euros, will only be fined between 1 to 3 months. However, there are circumstances that could aggravate the penalty. In addition to the general aggravating circumstances, the Constitutional Court determined that the appropriate penalty for swindling would be imprisonment of 1 to 6 years and a fine of 6 to 12 months, when:

• The theft of basic necessities or objects of recognised utility, such as houses. This sanction also applies to acts of fraud affecting artistic, historical, cultural or scientific heritage.
• Falsifying the signatures of other persons and concealing any kind of file or public document. In this case, the cost would increase to €50,000.
• The fraudster is a repeat offender.

This aggravation can lead to even higher penalties if the value of the stolen property exceeds 250,000 euros.

The statute of limitations for fraud is generally 5 years, but for the most serious offences it is 10 years.

In short, if you have been defrauded, you should report it as soon as possible if you have not been able to reach an agreement with the fraudster. This will allow you to be repaid financially, deter fraudsters and help the authorities to identify and prevent new ways of committing this crime.