Operation against second-hand sales fraud

EIGHTEEN people have been arrested in Vizcaya in a Guardia Civil operation against fraud.

The detainees contacted victims via well-known second-hand sales Apps and had committed more than 100 cases of fraud throughout Spain.
A further 13 people are under investigation in the operation codenamed Reborn II.
The detainees contacted the victims, offering to purchase objects which they had for sale. They did not question the price and they would even offer extra money for the postage and packing. They would agree to make the payment at the same time the items were sent, but never really paid, instead they sent the sellers forged proof of payment via email, making them appear to be from banks or from the sales Apps.
Once they received the goods, they sold them in second hand and pawn shops through other people.
Investigations began in November 2019 when Guardia Civil received complaints from Murcia, Alicante, Sevilla, Islas Baleares, Castellon, Jaen, Cordoba, Cadiz, Badajoz, A Coruña, Ciudad Real, Almeria, Toledo, Madrid, Barcelona, Pontevedra, Asturias, Caceres, Valencia, Malaga, Salamanca, Albacete, Huelva, Granada, Soria, Tenerife, La Rioja, Cantabria, Leon, Ourense and Zaragoza, against people purchasing items in Vizcaya.
Many of the objects which had been sold were recovered, including mobile phones, electrical goods, videogame consoles, computers and other items.
The fraud was often carried out with the help of the detainees’ relatives and the money was sent to Nigeria.

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