The Guardia Civil apprehended a criminal network that specialised in commercial cyberscams using the “man-in-the-middle” technique and romantic cyberscams using the “romance scam.” The amount defrauded from both individuals and corporations is about €1.6 million.
A total of 15 persons have been detained on charges of committing more than 50 frauds targeting victims around the country. The initial scam that prompted the investigation occurred in 2023, when a woman made a complaint with the Guardia Civil in Cáceres, claiming to be the victim of a love scam involving more than 100,000 euros.
In her complaint, the woman alleged that she was contacted by a fictitious US Army officer who acquired her emotional trust by sustaining a bogus connection for nearly two years, during which he transferred money to her con artist.
The Organic Judicial Police Unit of the Guardia Civil in Cáceres took over the investigation, revealing the existence of a criminal organisation whose members engaged in a variety of activities and frauds. The suspects intercepted emails between organisations after infecting their systems to conduct a “man-in-the-middle” cyberattack, allowing them to syphon money from bills given to others for their services.
It has also been shown that the organisation employed cyberattacks like smishing and vishing to target both businesses and individuals, as well as stolen identities of victims who were unaware they were being defrauded. Some of the victims were businesses that believed they had completed a successful payment, while others were individuals who were emotionally manipulated during a love fraud scheme.
In this approach, researchers concentrated their efforts on discovering the widespread usage of stolen identities among victims, who were re-victimised when hackers exploited their identities to commit other scams across the country.
Some of the victims are still repaying the bank loan they took out and gave to the scammers, demonstrating the strong emotional tie they had with them.
The Guardia Civil has gathered evidence linking the authors of the initial complaint to other incidents in towns across Spain, including Madrid, Barcelona, Cuenca, Lugo, Seville, Cádiz, Murcia, Castellón, Teruel, La Rioja, Álava, Pontevedra, Alicante, Valencia, Las Palmas, Tenerife, and Valladolid. The country has successfully solved 56 criminal events.
Two years of research in three stages
The Guardia Civil’s Technological inquiry Team in Cáceres estimates a two-year inquiry with three phases to completely dismantle the organised gang. We conducted 15 house searches in Valencia, Burjassot and Paiporta (Valencia), Milladoiro (A Coruña), Zaragoza, Getafe, Madrid, Fuenlabrada, Torrejón de Ardoz and Móstoles (Madrid), Barcelona, and Cornellá de Llobregat (Barcelona).
The authorities seized a considerable number of banking documents from overseas businesses, along with 52 cell phones, 20 storage devices, 18 laptops, 13 tablets, and six cryptocurrency wallets during the searches. Devices for connecting with victims to carry out romantic deception and eventual financial thievery were also discovered.
The amount of money defrauded, both from individuals and businesses, is 1,581,667 euros.
The unmasking of the criminal network has averted countless frauds that were being carried out during the investigation, with the potential for retrieving the defrauded monies. One of the “romance scam” victims alone lost €117,200.
Arrest of members of the organisation
The cybercriminal organisation had 15 members who frequently changed residences, which made it difficult for authorities to trace them. They were all detained for fraud, fake identity theft, money laundering, and membership to a criminal organisation.
One of the inmates had a lengthy police record for fraud, as well as several arrest orders issued by courts in multiple provinces.
The judge of the Court of First Instance and Investigation No. 2 of Cáceres ordered the detention of eleven people, the revocation of their passports, and weekly court appearances.
Watch a video of the raid by the Guardia Civil here https://youtu.be/2AG65OjnCjY?si=m3v2gJmHWyJC4T2p
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