Phone hang‑up and NFC contactless scams surge in Spain and US

Authorities in Spain issued a new alert about the "Wangiri" scam, in which automated systems place brief‑lasting calls from international prefixes and hang up, prompting recipients to call back a premium‑rate number that can charge more than €30 per minute. The National Cybersecurity Institute (Incibe) reported a rise in complaints linked to prefixes from Morocco, Albania, Ivory Coast and Latvia, and advised users never to return calls from unknown international numbers.

In the United States, a separate warning described the "ghost tapping" fraud that exploits near‑field communication (NFC) payment technology. Victims, such as a Chicago woman, were approached to make charitable donations via a tap‑to‑pay gesture, only to have their accounts charged thousands of dollars. Law enforcement and banks emphasized that consumers should verify merchant details before authorising contactless payments and report any unauthorised charges.

Both alerts underline the growing use of technology‑based deception and urge the public to remain vigilant, block suspicious numbers, and contact their service providers promptly when fraud is suspected.