A group of scammers are making life difficult for officials at the Foreigner's Office in Palma and elsewhere and this is leading to delays in appointments for documents such as the TIE residence card needed by British citizens to live in Spain after Brexit.
Appointment scam hits Foreigners' Department as British residents worry
Scammers take up all the appointments and then sell them
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4 comments
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What’s a NIE ?
Good idea, Justin (see below), but in order to make an appointment for a TIE card, you need to have already obtained a NIE number from your consulate (in person with passport to prove your identity) in order to gain access to the appointments section of the Foreigner's Office website in Spain. It appears hackers have somehow managed to by-pass this step, as only one appointment is permitted per NIE entered. There are websites that claim they can get you a NIE online, for a price, but not sure how reliable or trustworthy these are, with scammers everywhere you look these days.
Justin FlationExactly, or even just your name and d.o.b. which the official then checks. Just like the ITV, you need to enter your matricula (number plate). You can't simply show up with a different car.
This is easily solved by forcing appointments to include verifiable information (ie passport photo) to make the reservation. Passport must be presented at the appointment. This cannot be changed after the reservation is made, and therefore will be no market to resell it.