National Police agents dealt another blow criminal organization with dedicated international coverage ‘My son is in a difficult situation’ scam. They became clear 95 complaints Together Economic loss of 410,000 euros for the victims and 65 people Malaga, Catalonia and MadridTwo of them are the ringleaders of the conspiracy. A laptop computer was seized during the operation. 500 files spreadsheets containing personal information of possible victims.
Police busted a network in Catalonia, Madrid and Malaga and arrested 65 people, including the ringleaders.
The beginning of the investigations took place in February 2022, when investigators detected a significant increase in complaints lodged through fraud, known as ‘trouble’ in Seville. In these types of frauds, cybercriminals, through conversations made through internet applications, instant messagingThey address their victims as if they were their own children, making them believe that they are in a difficult situation. They then demand various amounts of money from them, usually through. bank transfer.
There were more than 500 spreadsheet files on the network containing personal data of potential victims
Malaga, one of its centers of origin
As investigations progressed into hundreds of complaints received over several months, agents managed to locate one of the origin centers of the fraud in the province of Malaga, where a cell of several people was kept. Acting on the orders of the higher levels of the responsible criminal organization.
95 complaints that caused economic damage of 410 thousand euros to the victims were clarified
As a result of the investigations, in addition to many people involved in the main stage of the conspiracy, many other people spread throughout the national territory, especially Malaga and Málaga, were identified. gironaThey have different roles within the criminal network, such as collectors, recruiters of computer mules, or the computer mules themselves.
The first of the arrests took place last August 2023. torremolinos (Málaga), while a Dutch citizen was thought to be the leader of the organization. During the search of the house, a laptop and a mobile phone were seized; their subsequent analysis reflected the method used by the criminal group to carry out the fraud.
He was later arrested in November of the same year. Fuengirola (Malaga), together with his closest collaborators, among whom seven more citizens of the same nationality were identified, were sent to another of the leaders of the conspiracy, who was also Dutch. Their main mission was to collect the scammed money, so they traveled Netherlands to Costa del SolHe crossed into Spain via Girona to gain economic benefit from the lower echelons of the organization, and also carried out the capitation duties of other mules. It is worth noting that these people have a high standard of living, stay in luxury hotels and drive luxury rental cars.
More than 500 files containing personal data
Their modus operandi consisted of first obtaining databases of potential victims for later use. bulk SMS sending. The hard drive of the seized laptop contained more than 500 spreadsheet files listing people’s personal data, previously filtered by gender, age, country, bank or city of residence. Likewise, each of the files contained nearly 150,000 records.
After the bulk SMS sending was completed, the deceived people contacted pre-determined people at the phone numbers specified in the initial messages, allowing the victims to follow the instructions to fall into the trap. The next step was to create barriers to prevent discovery through constant traffic of bank accounts on behalf of third parties. These accounts were obtained by word of mouth or by contacting them through social networks that offered commissions.
Eventually, the agents succeeded in dismantling the criminal organization. 65 people arrestedtwo of them ringleadersIn addition to identifying 221 people as accomplices of the crime both nationally and internationally, Resolved 95 complaints To date, there has been an economic loss of 410,000 euros. The operation will remain open pending further complaints regarding these incidents.
Preventive measures
The National Police would like to highlight a number of tips to avoid becoming a victim of such scams:
• Try to contact the family member through another means other than WhatsApp, if this is not possible, ask a family member or friend.
• Being suspicious of the language or expressions of the person who writes to us
• If you have fallen victim to fraud, go to National Police offices or call 091.