ISSUE NO. 1435
3 - 9 JANUARY 2013
WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.ES
Expat discovers tax rebate a fraud
A New Year scam alert
A NEW YEAR alert has gone out over an ongoing online UK tax scam! For while email seasonal greetings and cards were being exchanged by thousands of expat families in Spain, fraudsters were once more circulating messages purporting to be from the UK tax authorities to trick expatriates into revealing their bank details. What Costa del Sol resident Rita Arnold thought might be a tax rebate bonus has since been confirmed as a huge scam. She received an email that looked totally authentic from what she thought were the tax authorities stating that she was owed £300 (€372). They requested she fill in a form with her account number, how much money was in her credit card account, and also passwords. Clearly had she provided the details as requested, instead of receiving a £300
(€372) payment to her account, she would have found it rifled by the scam originators. Mrs Arnold decided to check the email with her lawyer son and he immediately identified it as a fraud. She is not the only British expatriate to have received such scam attempts. Six months ago Siobhan Hutton* of Benalmadena received an email seemingly carrying an HM Revenue and Customs letterhead with the subject ‘Unclaimed Tax Refund Notification’. But something did not seem quite right with the email, even though at first glance it appeared authentic. So Mrs Hutton phoned the British tax authorities with regard to the possible £239.41 (€300) rebate. And she was immediately warned it was a scam. “They asked me to forward the email Turn to Page 5
FLASHBACK: Shoppers out seeking bargains at last year’s winter sales.
All geared-up for the winter sales
TRADERS are now gearing up hoping for a business bonanza when the annual winter sales open on Monday. Shoppers able to splash the
Baby dolphin beach rescue A DISORIENTED one-year-old baby dolphin which ended up stranded on a Palma beach was rescued close to death. It was taken to the Portals aquarium to recover.
FRONT EXTRA *** A DOG was rescued unharmed from a sixth-floor flat in Calle
Vall d’Argent in Palma when it was gutted by fire. *** A MEMORIAL gravestone dedicated to the 22 local victims – 18 from Montuiri and four from Campos – of Francisco Franco’s regime has been knocked down. *** MAO COUNCIL’S phone bills have gone down 38 per cent under a ‘rationalisation plan’.
cash - or with plans to hit their credit cards will find many bargains, with discounts of up to 70 per cent. Shops hope - Page 3
Sales worry A DECREE allowing businesses to hold sales all year round could sound the death knell for many small and medium-sized shops. That is the worry of Bartolomeu Servera, President of the Federation of Balearic Trading Entrepreneurs (AFEDECO). He said: “I do not understand why they have to touch the things that work.” He believes liberalisation “will only benefit the four or five big businesses and will bring down even more small and medium-sized ones.” The Balearic Government passed the decree to comply with national regulations.