Monetary
The investigation centers on a 27-year-old man whom the National Police describe as a dangerous hacker connected to a fraud network that profited roughly three million euros after deceiving more than a thousand victims. He was arrested in Altea among a total of 34 detainees across Madrid, Malaga, Huelva, Murcia, and Alicante. Earlier reports described the group as holding data on four million people and carrying out various forms of online fraud. Police identified him as one of the network’s most dangerous suspects, yet unlike some leaders, he was not kept in custody. The Alicante province detainee was brought before authorities in Benidorm, with legal assistance from Aitor Esteban Gallastegui. He was released after posting bail of 8,000 euros.
Investigators confirmed the young man supplied other network members with the data needed to launch large-scale scams against victims nationwide and received substantial cryptocurrency payments after the frauds were completed.
According to authorities, this individual was not only trained to commit major frauds at a high level, but also allegedly provided other criminals with more intuitive databases and computer tools to enable similar schemes.
The young man has a prior record, having been arrested 25 times in Elche, Crevillent, and Aspe for offenses including fraud, robbery, injury, maltreatment, and complicity.
The organization to which this hacker in Alicante belonged is under investigation for extensive financial frauds but appears to engage in a wide range of computer crimes, including phishing campaigns, manipulation of delivery notes by tech companies, and schemes where criminals pose as employees of electricity providers.
crimes and charges
Last February, investigators were alerted by a well-known hypermarket chain’s finance director after spotting a fraud scheme. Perpetrators accessed customer data, obtained loans in victims’ names, and then called to claim the funds had been deposited by mistake and needed to be returned to the bank account controlled by the criminals. The network successfully defrauded 91 people of more than 160,000 euros.
That same approach was used against a finance company specializing in quick loans, affecting about 900 individuals and totaling nearly 300,000 euros in losses.
A third fraud involved criminals posing as electricity company employees, contacting lodging establishments, and threatening power cuts unless immediate payments were made due to alleged unpaid invoices. Eleven victims were deceived, transferring more than 33,000 euros to network members.
banking deception
Phishing and smishing campaigns were also employed by the ring, with criminals impersonating banking institutions and sending mass SMS alerts about security breaches. Victims were directed to fraudulent websites to extract account details, allowing the thieves to drain funds. This tactic led to losses exceeding 101,000 euros and affected 58 victims.
In another case, fraudsters sent messages claiming parental loss of phones and urgent problems, tricking 24 victims into giving up around 34,000 euros.
An organization focused on lending also suffered losses of roughly 95,000 euros in just over a month. A major fraud involved a multinational electronics company, where a former employee and others diverted nearly two million euros worth of equipment. Materials were routed from suppliers to the network without the knowledge of the purchasing company.
Throughout these cases, the network exploited a wide array of devices and services to profit from unsuspecting individuals and institutions, leveraging stolen data and social engineering to orchestrate multiple scams across the country. In compliance with investigative protocol, authorities continue to pursue all linked actors and sever the operational capabilities of the organization. The case underscores how criminal networks blend traditional fraud with digital deception to exploit vulnerabilities in finance, utilities, and retail sectors. Source: National Police briefing and subsequent court filings.
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