By Chris King • Published: 14 Nov 2021 • 2:13
Image of National Police cyber group officer. Credit: Policia Nacional
National Police officers have arrested two members of an international criminal group in Almeria. They have been charged with allegedly swindling €326,000 from a number of people across the country, with internet scams. This money was believed to have subsequently been sent to other members of this same group known to be spread around 10 other countries.
As reported by the National Police in a statement, the detainees had their centre of operations in Almeria. Possessing a high degree of technological skills they carried out a wide variety of internet scams, including phishing, SIM swapping, and CEO fraud.
An operation was launched back in September 2019 following an alleged CEO scam carried out by cybercriminals against a Spanish textile company. This elaborate scheme involved impersonating the company’s corporate email so that the company would make transfers to bank accounts that were owned by those arrested.
As a result of this scam, several other victims turned up who had been deceived by the same perpetrators. Using this, and other techniques, the couple of fraudsters had received up to 40 bank cards in the names of their victims, with which they could operate making payments or cash withdrawals.
This money was later sent abroad to countries including Germany, Belarus, China, Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. For the moment, investigations are continuing to locate – with Europol – members of the organisation in these countries.
In the police operation, four entries and searches were made. These uncovered eleven telephone cards, seven bank cards, a box of luxury watches, two tablets, documentation and banking contracts, three mobile phones, numerous mass storage devices, and a computer, all of which were seized, as reported by diariodealmeria.es.
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Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com
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