Cryptocurrencies: Aragon will implement more measures to protect consumers from fraudulent investments.

The Aragonese Parliament will urge the Aragonese government to promote greater protection for Aragonese consumers , especially young people, from the financial scams and fraud that are occurring due to false investments in cryptocurrencies .

These actions involve carrying out more activities and disseminating information as a preventive measure about the sophisticated tools used by cybercrime and the reporting tools available for victims to report.

These measures are included in the non-legislative motion presented by the PSOE in the Cortes of Aragon, which was approved unanimously , with all the votes in favor of the different parliamentary groups due to the importance of this type of crime, especially in the Aragonese community.

In fact, in 2023, there was a 20% increase in fraud and scams related to this type of crime in Spain compared to the previous year, with 11,565 of them detected in the Aragonese region. And, although last year there was a 1.4% drop across the country as a whole, the fact is that the rate has increased to 9.6 per 1,000 inhabitants for internet and cryptocurrency-related crimes. In the first half of the year, reports in the region increased by 1.8%.

"It's an apparent decrease, but the problem hasn't disappeared," said Darío Villagrasa, a member of the PSOE parliamentary group, during the explanatory statement, in which he focused on young people—although they are not the only victims—due to the connection made on many social networks and in advertising about cryptocurrencies with success, the easy way to make money via mobile phones.

"It's important to bring this initiative to debate and implement consumer protection measures from Aragon, so we ask the Government of Aragon to increase—within the scope of its powers—consumer protection against these frauds among the target population: young people," he emphasized, before clarifying that "this is not about throwing cryptocurrencies and other digital assets to the winds. It's not about going against them," but rather about helping to prevent fraud and scams online or on illegal platforms that facilitate trading and advertise on various platforms and social networks.

"In a world where digital assets cannot be closed off and are validated by some governments, measures and campaigns must be developed to protect young people, prevent crimes from occurring in Aragon, and denounce bad practices," said Socialist Villagrasa.

From Aragón-Teruel Existe , MP Pilar Buj supported the Socialist proposal, citing the need to address these crimes, especially among young people, due to the criminal groups' ability to promote financial products.

Furthermore, from Chunta Aragonesista (CHA) , MP José Luis Soro has also expressed his support for this proposal given the need to address measures for "urgent protection. It's not against cryptocurrencies, but rather about protecting" consumers.

For his part, VOX MP David Arranz also expressed support for this initiative to curb these crimes, which he noted are difficult to identify and track, as well as difficult to conduct police investigations because they can be carried out from anywhere in the world. He also advocated taking further steps to ensure that training centers also include information and knowledge about economics, savings, investments, mortgages, and the dangerous use of technology, among other areas.

Finally, from the People's Party (PP) , MP Ana Marín proposed an amendment ex officio to ensure that actions do not focus solely on cryptocurrencies, given that other types of internet crimes also occur and affect other groups, such as the elderly. This amendment was not accepted by the Socialist group, although the proposal was agreed upon, but was rejected in favor of focusing on cryptocurrencies. Despite this rejection, the People's Party (PP) group still voted in favor of the PSOE's National Action Plan (PNL).