Nearly 400,000 hit by cybercrime in Spain as people in their 50s and 60s are caught most often

One unfamiliar payment can quickly become a frozen card, urgent calls to the bank and fears that more money could disappear. Nearly 400,000 people were recorded as cybercrime victims in Spain in 2025, with those aged 51 to 65 hit most often and online offences reaching their yearly peak in July.

Why Spain’s July cybercrime peak matters for cardholders now

An ordinary bank notification can become a costly problem when the payment on screen was never made by the account holder. The fallout can mean urgently freezing a card, checking every recent transaction, contacting the bank and filing a police report.

New figures released by Spain’s Interior Ministry on July 10 show how common those situations have become. Police forces recorded 488,426 cybercrimes in 2025, an increase of 5.1 per cent compared with the previous year. Cybercrime accounted for 19.8 per cent of all recorded crime in Spain, equivalent to almost one offence in every five.

July 2025 produced the highest monthly total, with 44,999 cases. May followed with 43,862, September recorded 42,922 and March had 42,027. December was the quietest month, although police still registered 36,422 cybercrimes. The report says cybercrime was distributed relatively evenly throughout the year, so the figures do not establish that summer holidays caused July’s higher total. Nor do they predict that July 2026 will follow the same pattern.

Nevertheless, the report’s publication during the current summer period gives residents a timely reason to examine unfamiliar card payments, booking messages and supposed bank alerts more carefully.

People aged 51 to 65 were the most frequently recorded victims

The Interior Ministry counted 383,285 cybercrime victims during 2025, 9.3 per cent more than in 2024. People aged between 51 and 65 were the most frequently recorded victims among both men and women. The ministry said this age group was mainly affected by fraud involving credit cards, debit cards and travellers’ cheques.

Across the victim data, that category of fraud affected 146,737 people. The report does not, however, say that every person aged 51 to 65 faces a greater individual risk than someone in another age group, or that criminals deliberately chose victims because of their age. 

Nearly nine in ten cybercrimes recorded in Spain were fraud

Online fraud accounted for 429,677 cases, almost nine in every ten cybercrimes recorded by the National Police, Guardia Civil, regional police forces and local officers. This broad category covers scams carried out through phones, computers and online accounts, including fake bank messages, unauthorised card payments, phishing links and fraudulent online purchases. The number of cases was 4 per cent higher than in 2024.

Andalucía registered 89,124 cybercrimes, the largest raw regional total, followed by Cataluña with 73,400 and Madrid with 72,217. Together, the three regions accounted for 48 per cent of the national total.

Police detained or investigated 19,876 people in connection with cybercrime during the year. The proportion of recorded cases classed as solved rose to 14.6 per cent after an 11.4 per cent annual increase in clarified cases.

How to limit losses after an unrecognised card payment

Spain’s Banco de España advises cardholders to contact the card issuer or bank as soon as an unfamiliar charge appears. Many banking applications allow a card to be temporarily frozen immediately, helping to prevent further payments while the transaction is checked. The bank should be contacted through its official application, website or a trusted telephone number, rather than through a link or number contained in the suspicious message.

Account movements should be reviewed, messages and screenshots preserved and a police complaint filed when fraud is suspected. The Banco de España says unrecognised transactions should be reported as soon as possible, even though the legal period for making a claim can extend to 13 months from the date of the payment.

The Spanish National Cybersecurity Institute (INCIBE) also operates the free and confidential 017 helpline from 8am to 11pm every day. Advisers provide technical, practical and legal guidance to residents dealing with online security incidents.

INCIBE can also be contacted through WhatsApp on 900 116 117 or Telegram using the account @INCIBE017. Fraud victims can report incidents to the National Police, Guardia Civil or the relevant regional police force.

With Spain’s latest figures showing both victim numbers and computer fraud continuing to rise, checking card notifications promptly may stop one suspicious transaction from becoming a serious monetary loss.