Woman arrested for defrauding the owner of a tattoo shop of 4,500 euros

A 30-year-old woman has been arrested by National Police officers in Elche, Alicante, on suspicion of fraud. She allegedly used a trust connection with the owner of a tattoo parlour […]

August 29, 2025 Updated on August 27, 2025 2 Mins Read

A 30-year-old woman has been arrested by National Police officers in Elche, Alicante, on suspicion of fraud. She allegedly used a trust connection with the owner of a tattoo parlour to request 4,500 euros in transfers, alleging that the Treasury had frozen her account due to an alleged overdue obligation.

The event was reported by the manager of a tattoo shop, who indicated that she had been duped by a client for whom she had done two tattoos and had built a trusting relationship after the alleged perpetrator informed her she had been a victim of domestic violence. According to a police statement, this strengthened the couple’s relationship.

Once sufficient confidence had been established, the store owner, who was travelling outside of Spain, received a call from a client informing her that her bank account had been stopped by the Treasury due to a 780 euro debt, despite having a positive balance of 156,000 euros. She consequently needed a transfer for that amount in order to pay that debt and have the account unblocked, pledging to repay the money as soon as this occurred.

The customer also supplied him a screenshot of her account balance, which revealed the aforementioned amount, so the victim believed the claim and transferred the desired amount.

Seven transfers

However, following the initial procedure, he requested a second transfer, followed by seven more, totalling 4,500 euros, in addition to one of the tattoo jobs he had not paid for, worth 650 euros.

The victim received numerous messages from the client indicating that she would reimburse the entire amount as soon as her account was unblocked and would even tip her for her trouble. On one occasion, she sent a forged transfer receipt for €5,150, claiming to have sent it to cover the total amount.

Finally, the victim decided to submit a complaint with the National Police Station in Elche after getting “evasive and false promises” of payment. The inquiry ended with the location and arrest of the alleged offender, who is accused of fraud.