King Felipe VI's image is being used to promote cryptocurrency scams.

If you want to make quick and easy money, you can always get into the cryptocurrency business and hit the jackpot. It's a safe business, and even King Felipe VI recommends it. But no way. Not at all. This is simply what cybercriminals are trying to make users believe through a new fraudulent advertising campaign in which the criminals, in this case, are taking advantage of the image of the King of Spain . This is the latest example of an old trick, carried out on social media and video platforms, in which criminals try to steal from internet users by taking advantage of the image of well-known faces, as has been the case previously with Cristina Pedroche, Antonio Resines, and David Broncano .

The malicious campaign has been detected by the National Cybersecurity Institute (Incibe), which has issued a public alert with a severity rating of "high." As in other similar cases seen in the past, the criminals behind the scam are placing the King's image in fraudulent advertisements on social media and investment and video game portals. The advertisement reports on a fake interview with Felipe VI in the newspaper "El Mundo" in which the monarch allegedly encouraged citizens to invest their money in a fraudulent investment platform called "Immediate Nextgen."

In the headline, the criminals claim that "Spanish citizens can now pay off all their debts in just one month." Their goal is to attract the attention of the most economically vulnerable users. They also use the image of the King and a media outlet to lend credibility to the scam and convince at least some internet users to take the bait.

Clicking on the ad opens the alleged interview, inviting users to invest in the fraudulent platform Inmediate NextGen. It states that a user who invests €250 on the site can earn a profit of €2,000 per day. To start earning, they must click on a link at the bottom of the page, which redirects to the fraudulent site. Once there, the goal is to get victims to transfer money to bank accounts controlled by the attackers, enter financial information into manipulated forms, or even install malicious software on their devices. Typically, this software is designed to steal personal information and banking passwords.

The National Cybersecurity Institute warns users who encounter a scam of this kind of the importance of always using common sense and not making hasty decisions . No one can guarantee you financial benefits like those promised in the fraudulent ad, much less in a single day.

Incibe also emphasizes that if you've seen an ad using the image of King Felipe VI recommending investment platforms, but you haven't accessed it, provided your information, or invested any money, you have nothing to regret. Furthermore, if the fraudulent ad appeared on a social network, such as Facebook, you can report it directly from the platform itself. "This way, you'll contribute to its removal and help protect others from falling for this type of scam," the institution emphasizes.

If you have invested money or shared data with the criminals behind the scam, Incibe recommends contacting your bank to report the possible fraud and attempting to cancel or block any transactions. You should also save all evidence of the scam and file a complaint. Finally, it is important to have antivirus software on the device used when you fell for the scam to check if it has been infected with malicious code.