Guardia Civil dismantles online scam involving fraudulent sale of sanitary material

Guardia Civil dismantles online scam involving fraudulent sale of sanitary material

Guardia Civil dismantles online scam involving fraudulent sale of sanitary material. image: guardia civil

An online scam involving the fraudulent sale of sanitary material has been dismantled by the Guardia Civil

The Guardia Civil, in the framework of operation ‘NITRIMAX’, has proceeded to arrest four people, and placed one other under investigation, suspected of belonging to a criminal organisation dedicated to an online scam involving the sale of sanitary material.
They are allegedly responsible for numerous offences of fraud, identity theft, false documentation by offering sanitary products and air conditioning equipment over the internet, pretending to be real companies, and so far defrauding some €22,000.
Operation ‘NITRIMAX’ began as a result of a complaint filed in July last year on the island of Lanzarote. A businessman had reported a scam of more than €9,000 in the purchase of Covid-19 sanitary material (masks, gel, and gloves).
Apparently, they sold the sanitary products through various buying and selling websites, and, after gaining the trust of their victims by sending product samples and “proforma invoice” type documentation in the name of real companies, they managed to receive payment for the products offered, which they never sent to the victims
To avoid identification, they created a network of real identities usurped from immigrants and nationals to mask their real identity. Real companies were also used, but with forged documentation, to give the appearance of legality to the supposed product offers via the internet, thus sufficiently deceiving their victims.
After analysing the data obtained at a national level, officers were also able to locate several victims in the provinces of Melilla, and Alicante, who had been swindled by the sale of air-conditioning equipment following the same modus operandi.
Their scam was initially detected on the island of Lanzarote, and the alleged perpetrators carried out this scheme in an itinerant manner between the provinces of Madrid and Viscaya.
Subsequent investigations carried out by the Guardia Civil of the economic movement generated by the scam, in conjunction with the analysis of the means, contacts, and bank accounts used by the scam, led them to the location of the alleged perpetrators, in Madrid and Bilbao.
Three entries and searches were carried out in these municipalities, during which numerous computer devices, mobile phones, and identity documents, among others, were seized.
Analysis of the devices and documentation seized continues, and new victims and members of the criminal group are still being located.
As a result of the initial analysis, the possibility arose of opening an investigation with other countries of the European Union, and South America. The objective is to find out the final destination of part of the capital swindled from the victims.

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Written by

Chris King

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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