I read this on another website that I use a lot, and I thought that I would just bring it to the attention of multimadrid members, who drive in Spain, or anyone in fact who is coming to Spain and thinking of driving here, as this kind of thing is (from what I've been hearing) rife, and getting worse, so here I have just pasted in some of the warnings posted recently.
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Hello,
We think that this might interest you and your readers.
This is an experience we had recently on our way up to Switzerland by road.
Perhaps you might like to publish it as a warning to drivers of other non-Spanish plated, expensive cars.
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WARNING !!!!! WARNING !!!!! WARNING !!!!!
Recently, my partner and I were travelling on the carretera a few kilometres beyond Barcelona towards the French border.
We drive an expensive car and it has UK number plates.
We were travelling around 120kph in the middle lane and initially,
I sensed rather than saw the car alongside us on the inside lane.
Glancing over my right shoulder I say a large silver Audi saloon (possibly an Audi 100 or 200) with two or maybe three occupants who seemed to be looking closely at us.
I then paid attention to the road ahead, as it was fairly busy,
being mid to late afternoon.
Within a few seconds, the same car appeared in my rear view mirror, following quite closely and again sensing that all was not well, mentioned for my partner to not be alarmed if anything unusual took place, explaining to her what was happening and my concerns.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the same car pulled alongside and just a little forward of us in the outside lane.
At the same time the front seat passenger with his right hand flashed what looked like an official, silver police badge in a small leather wallet at the same time brandishing what looked like a police walkie talkie in his left hand. All three occupants were of swarthy appearance.
There were no police signs on the car, no flashing lights and no sirens.
Both the front seat and the back seat passenger motioned for us to follow them and to pull off the carretera at the, fast approaching, next exit.
I signalled that I would comply.
However, as they pulled across in front of us to take the exit, I gave the impression that I was following but at the last moment simply continued straight on at the full speed limit, which left them stranded in the off ramp lane.
At the same time I said to my partner that if they really were the police, that we should expect sirens and lights pretty soon.
Yes, you have guessed it - the lights and sirens never came AND what is most gratifying is that we got to keep all our money and possessions and perhaps not least our lives.
Sadly, while concentrating on making sure we did not follow them nor cause or have an accident we did not get the opportunity to take their registration number.
So, let this be a warning to you if you drive any sort of half decent car with UK number plates (or perhaps for that matter any other non Spanish plates). You could be the next crime statistic!!!
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Last June we were travelling on the N340 out of Barcelona towards Tarragona, when a silver VW Passat pulled along side my car with the passenger shouting out of his window that my rear tyre was on fire. I pulled over to the hard shoulder, the Passat pulled over in front of my car and as the passenger got out of his car and approached us I accelerated away and in my rear view mirror I saw the Passat drive away up a slip road. We were on English plates. Beware!!!.
Kenneth.
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Read about a similar situation recently on another forum in vicinity of Madrid. Badges flashed and money taken from drivers wallet.
Dave
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This is an old one and the Autopista between Barcelona and France and is a regular stomping ground for this scam.
You have little choice if on holiday but given the choice I would not drive a UK registered car in Spain; they are simply too much of a target for thieves and vandals.
Even if the unmarked car did have police like lights and appeared to be official I would not stop for it, not in Spain nor anywhere else. Better to continue and argue the situation out later.
My own SEAT has doors that lock as you pull away, some may find this a bit gimmicky, but you simply NEED that level of safety. For anyone concerned the locking mechanism deactivates in the event of a collision.E4
Raul
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Some German tourists that visited our village last year were victims of this type of robbery. Thinking it was the police they stopped on the autovia when instructed and had their money and passports stolen. This was somewhere near Barcelona. Seems that any foreign reg car is at risk.
Ena
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A similar scam has been going on in France for a few years now mainly to people towing trailers, stop you telling you there’s something wrong with the trailer whist your back looking at what’s supposedly wrong they jump in the car and steel the lot?
suggest you keep your car locked at all times even when driving don’t stop for anybody, if its the police they’ll soon put the spikes in the road to stop you
Mike
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So, there it is, a few people telling ya to watch out when out there on those Autopistas, there are banditos out there, looking for unsuspecting drivers, who can't tell the difference between a real Police vehicle/person etc, and a highway robber.
Me personally, I will only pull over if I see real flashing Police light's and the word Police also flashing somewhere on the front, other wise they can boil their heads, I just ignore them, if it don't look like a Police car, and don't sound like a police car, then it ain't a police car, that badge that is being flashed at you can either be a fake, or stolen from a police officer, or lost by a police office, and is being used to pull people over to rob them, and if your a lady out there on your own, don't even think of stopping, and remember, a real police patrol car on an Autopista, is not really going to look like a private car, and would only stay behind you in order to get you to pull over, they would not mess about alongside of you, flashing potentially fake police badges at you, there is a correct procedure for traffic cops to follow, if they want to get you to stop for some reason, so you might want to check that out some time.
Another good piece of advice these days, is to always travel with a pepper spray by your side!! Does that sound a bit harsh to you? Well ask yourself this question, what would you prefer, to be robbed and bullied, perhaps beaten even, or to pepper spray the SOB in the eyes, and drive on with all of your money still in your pocket, and not his?
Question asked and answered I think!!
Drive safely.
Saludos,
Angelo
