Internet fraudsters arrested

THE National Police force has arrested 65 members of a group for cheating foreigners out of half a million Euros over the internet.

The group, composed of Romanian and Spanish members, allegedly fraudulently obtained details of bank accounts in other countries and made transfers to accounts in Spain.

Once the money arrived in Spain it was withdrawn and carried or sent to Romania in cash.

The group leader for Spain, who obtained 30 per cent of the take, is amongst those arrested, and so far 171 victims of the scam of various nationalities have been identified.

The cash carriers were kept under strict surveillance and threatened constantly by their supervisors, the police reported. If any attempted to escape with the loot was made, group members immediately tracked them down.

The investigations began in March 2013 following reports from a bank that false credit cards were being used in establishments in Barcelona, Jaen, Alicante, Valencia and Castellon.

The Guardia Civil in Cornella de Llobregat, Barcelona, meanwhile informed the investigators of a group that appeared to be copying credit cards and using them to withdraw cash.

The two police forces worked together to discover 74 people in Spain working with the group, the leaders of which worked from Romania and shared 50 per cent of their profits with the Spanish branch of the organisation.