The Civil Guards have arrested three people on charges of fraud related to a vacation rental offer in Torrevieja. ongoing fraud and membership in a criminal group.
In February and March, agencies detected an increase in the number of complaints regarding the issue. scams linked to properties offered in the tourist town. Thus, in order to clarify the reasons for this increase and to identify the fraudsters, the Investigation Zone, the main police station of the district, started the “Mesekito” operation.
In the first phase of the investigation, the working style of the alleged perpetrators was examined; this was similar in most of the complaints analysed. These individuals used web page platforms for real estate rental To request payment by bank transfer or cash, offer properties they don’t own.
After receiving the payment, The scammers disappeared without a tracewithout surrendering the property and reimbursing the sums paid. They also did not hesitate to impersonate real estate agents to gain the trust of the victims.
The agents then conducted a rigorous analysis of the bank accounts involved in these crimes, which made it possible to identify the gang members. approximately three Spanish nationalstwo men and a woman, aged between 42 to 63 years oldsome have prior records of similar events.
On 23 May, after the suspects were proven to have participated in some of the crimes under investigation, three simultaneous recordings At the homes of people stationed in Torrevieja with the support of the Alicante Command’s Citizens’ Security Unit (Usecic).
During this process, bank documents, materials related to imitated real estate companies, transfer documents, mobile phones, More than 10,000 Euros in casheight motor vehicles, eight properties, a retirement plan, and 16 bank accounts used by the gang.
The suspects were arrested at the scene and handed over to the Investigation Court No. 2 of the Torrevieja Judicial District. released on precaution.
Injunction from Germany
After these actions, the agents did not terminate the operation and in July they took a European action from the Freiburg State Prosecutor’s Office (Germany) for a fraud charge related to the dispersed gang they had defrauded. 4 thousand euros for the German couple.
Total, 29 crimes cleared Scam where victims come from Germany, Algeria, Colombia, Ecuador, Poland, Ukraine and Spain. However, as there are still documents to be examined, the Civil Guard has not concluded the operation yet, and It is not excluded that the number of detainees and victims may increase..
For this reason, it is strongly requested Attention and awareness when using online platforms to avoid falling victim to real estate scams. It is advisable to request proof of the existence of the property before paying, beware of very attractive offers, and gather information about the advertiser and the platform.