The Guardia Civil has finished a long and complicated investigation that started in early 2024 because there was a big rise in payment fraud. The victims were spread out over Spain, although the fake transactions mostly happened in the Vega Baja del Segura region and the town of Torrevieja. The complexity of the criminal network necessitated a three-phase coordinated investigation. This led to the breaking up of a criminal group, the arrest of 14 people, three house searches in Torrevieja, and the seizure of a lot of tech equipment that was used to commit the crimes.
The investigations indicated that there was a secret, flexible network set up on multiple levels that was used for the illegal trading of payment methods, both physical and virtual. The network included everyone from the people who were technically in charge of getting the data illegally to the “mules,” who carried out the scams by withdrawing cash and making fake payments at ATMs, stores, gaming halls, and betting shops in the area.
The main way they did this was by sending out a lot of fake SMS messages (called “smishing”) that led people to fake links and websites that looked like banks, big phone companies, and even government institutions. The fraudsters tricked the victims into giving them their banking information, which they then used to sign up cards on mobile devices and make fake charges and withdrawals.
At first, the investigation focused on the most active criminal group, which was behind a lot of fake SMS campaigns. A lot of similar fraudulent operations were solved since they worked together with Guardia Civil investigation units in up to 40 Spanish provinces.
Between July and August 2025, agents worked on the first phase of the operation, which targeted the top levels of the network, the people in charge of signing up a lot of credit cards. A search warrant was carried out at a high-end villa in Torrevieja, where a real enrolment lab was found. The police took 65 high-tech cell phones, bitcoin wallets, anonymous prepaid cards, and other computer gear. In this operation, two people were apprehended. The Torrevieja Court of Instruction No. 2 ordered one of them to be held in custody. This move stopped the spread of many devices that would have made scams far more common.
From January to October 2025, agents looked into another part of the organisation that was mostly responsible for using fake physical cards, mostly from a well-known bank. In October, a further search warrant was carried out at another villa in Torrevieja, when three members of the criminal cell were taken into custody. These people were utilising the stolen cards to cheat at ATMs, stores, and casinos. The Orihuela Court of Instruction saw the detainees.
The offenders’ high-tech protection measures made it harder for the inquiry to go forward. But between November 19th and 24th, 2025, as part of a third line of inquiry, the rest of the criminal group were caught in different places in the provinces of Alicante and Albacete, as well as on the island of Ibiza. They were all brought before the courts.
There have been 14 arrests in all stages of the investigation. 11 men and 3 women, aged 22 to 52, are charged with crimes such as continued fraud, theft, receiving stolen goods, document forgery, belonging to a criminal organisation, and usurpation of civil status.
They also took 74 mobile phones, 85 SIM cards, three PCs, two tablets, a point-of-sale terminal (POS), routers, frequency blockers, prepaid cards worth 12,000 euros, bitcoin wallets, and other digital gadgets.
More than 986 scams have been uncovered thanks to these operations, and approximately 200 victims have been found across almost the whole country, with losses of more than €200,000. The investigations are still going on. They are being headed by the Investigation Unit of the Torrevieja Police Station and backed by the Almoradí, Dolores, and Santa Eulalia (Balearic Islands) Police Stations, the Villamalea Police Station (Albacete), and the Citizen Security Unit (USECIC) of the Alicante Command. There could be victims in other countries, such Lithuania, Cyprus, Poland, France, and Greece, but this has not been ruled out.
The Guardia Civil has dealt a serious blow to organised crime that specialises in computer frauds by taking these steps. This has fully stopped them from being able to do business.
Author: Derek Appleton
Other Articles
Court sends man to prison the for the Crevillent fire/death
Arrested for running over a Guardia Civil officer at checkpoint
No Comment! Be the first one.