Two false dnis, three commercial calls and 70,000 euros of fine. Lebara has been expensive not to check who buys his sim

Three commercial calls being in the Robinson list They have been enough for the Spanish Data Protection Agency to put the Mobiles SA out -of the focus, a company after which Yoigo operates. A particular and unusual case, in which the company has been sanctioned with 70,000 euros despite having demonstrated that the realization of These calls It was not at the hands of Yoigo.

It was enough with three calls. The Exp202205208 file acts with a sanctioning basis for a claim filed in April 2022. The consumer presented to the agency the reception of Commercial calls In your mobile line promoting Yoigo servicesclaiming to be registered in the Robinson list.

Only screenshots were necessary to provide the records of the three calls, made between March 18, April 11 and 12. The first question begins here. How is Yoigo possible to call a user of the advertising exclusion list for commercial purposes?

It wasn’t Yoigo. In accordance with the data protection laws, the AEPD transferred said claim to Xfera, so that the operator informs within one month on these actions. Xfera’s response was overwhelming: None of his authorized lines had issued those calls. After the response of the operator’s corporate name, the case was filed.

But it was not there. The user claimed again to the AEPD, making the case reopened. Xfera was urged, again, to investigate the three telephone numbers made the calls. Although none of them had officially called, he admitted that one of them was in his name during the months of April and June 2022.

The AEPD continued to track, and contacted the owner of that line. The telephone bill and the call registration of recent months were reviewed, concluding again that it was not called from said phone. Although the user claimed that the commercial calls talked about Yoigo offers, the AEPD concluded next to Xfera that the line belonged to a SIM of Lebara, a small OMV also of the MásMóvil group and that only markets prepaid lines.

Uncovering the cake. Of the three investigated numbers, only one had a postal address. The AEPD found that the other two lines were registered with False dnismaking the identification of those responsible for the calls impossible. In short, everything indicates that these calls for advertising purposes were nothing more than scam attempts, telephone scams to obtain the data from the one who received the calls.

A fine for negligence. Despite having shown that Xfera was not the first responsible in this practice, the AEPD has imposed a fine of 70,000 euros for being the final responsible for the data processing. It obliges, in the same way, to implement within six months new measures to verify the real identity of new prepaid clients.

Similarly, Lebara will have to audit and regularize all its active lines to verify that they are under verified identities. A particular case that, again, resolves that responsibility for certain scam attempts lies on operators. Something that remembers Recent Supreme Court ruling making it clear that, in case of bank fraud by Phishing, the person responsible is the bank.

Image | Andrei Metelev

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