National Police officers have arrested a 52-year-old man in Alicante after he allegedly posed as a false sales representative for an electricity company and scammed a hospitality employee out of nearly 2,500 euro in fake unpaid bills.
The investigation began following a formal complaint made by the victim, who fell prey to the deception concerning alleged outstanding electricity payments, according to a statement from the Police Headquarters.
The incident occurred while the victim was working at her establishment, which was busy with customers at the time. She received a telephone call from an individual who claimed to be an employee of her electricity supplier. During the conversation, he informed her of several allegedly unpaid invoices and warned that if she did not pay immediately via bank transfer, the electricity supply to the business would be disconnected.
Faced with the urgency of the situation and aiming to prevent disruption to her business, the victim accessed her online banking platform and carried out several transfers amounting to a total of 2,480 euro.
Subsequent enquiries revealed that on the day before the phone call, a man had visited the establishment pretending to be an electricity commercial representative. Under the pretext of offering better contract conditions, he requested information regarding the victim’s energy supplier and photographed her latest electricity bill.
Police confirmed that the individual who visited the venue was the same person who made the fraudulent phone call. The initial visit was carried out to obtain genuine billing details to make the scam appear credible, with the fraudster demanding an amount that matched the photographed invoice. Once the suspect was identified, a police operation was launched, leading to his arrest for alleged involvement in a fraud offence. The case has been submitted to the Duty Court of Instruction in Alicante.
Following the incident, National Police have advised the public to remain cautious of calls demanding urgent payments under threat of disconnecting essential services, highlighting that electricity companies rarely demand immediate transfers. Citizens are urged not to provide personal or billing details to unannounced callers or visitors and to verify any issues directly with suppliers using official telephone numbers. In the event of a suspected scam, individuals should end the call, contact their bank immediately if a payment was made, and report the matter to law enforcement.
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