Oil, hams and even dogs: companies in Castellón, Valencia and Alicante are scammed

As part of Operation “VENCAL,” the Guardia Civil has arrested ten people and is looking into six others. This investigation has found 39 frauds that happened in 18 Spanish regions,...

November 4, 2025 2 Mins Read

As part of Operation “VENCAL,” the Guardia Civil has arrested ten people and is looking into six others. This investigation has found 39 frauds that happened in 18 Spanish regions, such as Valencia, Alicante, and Castellón. It is thought that the Bilbao-based group cheated around €300,000 by buying and selling goods in bulk with fake bank receipts.

The search started after someone reported a possible fraud in which 120 bottles of oil were sold in the Otxarkoaga neighbourhood of Bilbao. Investigators quickly found other similar scams in the same area that used the same fake bank documents. This led them to find a well-organised network that was working across the Iberian Peninsula.

A series of scams with phoney receipts and tricked transporters

The scheme’s members called wholesale companies to place urgent orders for expensive goods like oil, sausages, salmon, or cheese and used fake bank statements to show that they had paid. After they had the goods, they stopped talking to the sellers until they could confirm the payment.

They also utilised prepaid cards in the names of other people and rental cars to travel between provinces and commit more frauds. In some cases, they hired couriers to pick up the orders, but they also tricked them by sending fraudulent transfers or small deposits that were never paid.

Companies in Valencia, Alicante, and Castellón were affected

Valencia, Alicante, and Castellón are some of the provinces that have been affected. There are also sixteen more provinces, such as Barcelona, Málaga, La Rioja, and Navarra. There have been 39 scams solved around the country. The thieves took anything that could go bad, like oil, meat, fish, and canned products, as well as electric scooters, PVC sheets, and even eleven pets.

The Guardia Civil worked together to make the arrests in Bizkaia, León, Zaragoza, Ávila, and Álava. The Guardia Civil wants people to know that they can report cyber fraud and other offences online at the Electronic Headquarters (guardiacivil.sede.gob.es) or the official website www.guardiacivil.es.