Hackers arrested for blackmailing people who hired them to spy in Spain

10 hackers arrested for blackmailing people who hired them to spy in Spain and remove fines or change their grades.

Officers from the National police in Spain have arrested 10 hackers for extorting and defrauding people who had hired them to spy on others. This includes people who had hired them to spy on social media networks, remove fines from Spain’s DGT, change data at the tax office and even change university grades.

According to National police on Tuesday, the alleged hackers had even advertised their services on the Internet. Once the hackers were hired they then set out to extort their victims and even threatened to reveal information on the person that hired them.

Due to the scope of the crimes committed the officers launched five investigations which were able to identify over 400 people who had attempted to hire the alleged hackers. They discovered over 12,000 advertisements had been placed and a staggering 340,000 euros had been made by the hackers.

The hackers had demanded an upfront payment before they commenced work, then went on to request sensitive data from the person who had hired them and they also requested data regarding the person they were going to spy on.

The 10 people have now been charged with offences of fraud, extortion and discovery and disclosure of secrets.

According to 20 minutes, “Once they had this information, they cut off contact with the person who had requested their services and later asked for more money under the threat of revealing the work they had been commissioned to do.”

If the victim refused to pay out, then the alleged hackers contacted the person who they were meant to spy on and shared the information that they had gained. They then extorted more money from these new victims.

The operation was extensive and was carried out over the space of several months in Spain’s Zaragoza, Barcelona, Girona, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

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