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Date Published: 12/06/2026

Got a message from the Spanish Tax Agency asking for cryptocurrency payment? It is a scam

The AEAT has confirmed it never requests payments in cryptocurrency or asks for personal or financial information by email or SMS

If you have received an email claiming to be from the Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria, or AEAT) asking you to make a payment in cryptocurrency, do not act on it. It is a phishing scam.

A number of people in Spain are currently receiving emails that appear to come from the AEAT, warning them that they must make an urgent cryptocurrency payment as part of a supposed "mandatory" settlement linked to something called a "Modernization of Cross-Border Collection Management" plan. The email claims that a "cryptocurrency gateway" has been activated and that payment must be made within 24 hours.

That 24-hour deadline is a deliberate tactic. Cybercriminals use artificial urgency to pressure people into acting quickly, before they have time to stop and question whether something seems right. It is a classic feature of phishing attacks, where criminals impersonate official bodies to extract personal, financial or banking information from their victims.

The AEAT has been clear on the matter. The agency states on its website that it "does not use blockchain wallets or request payments via cryptocurrencies," and that it "does not request confidential, financial or personal information via SMS or email." The goal of this particular scam, the agency confirms, is to trick people into transferring money to a cryptocurrency wallet.

It is also worth knowing how genuine AEAT communications work. Any official procedure requiring your personal involvement will always go through authorised channels, specifically via a digital certificate, the Cl@ve system or an electronic ID card. If an email is asking you to do something outside of those channels, it is not legitimate.

If you have received one of these emails, the straightforward advice is to ignore it and delete it. Do not click any links, do not enter any personal details and do not make any payment. If you are unsure whether a communication from the tax authority is genuine, contact the AEAT directly through its official website rather than responding to the email itself.

It is an increasingly common type of fraud, and one that is particularly worth flagging for anyone who may be less familiar with how these scams operate.

You might also be interested in: Your bank may be calling - but it could be a scam: Police warn over rising 'spoofing' fraud in Spain

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