The Civil Guard has arrested seven men and three women in Torrevieja and Almoradí, as alleged perpetrators of 504 crimes of fraud as well as a crime of belonging to a criminal organisation. Through the methods known as “smishing” and “phishing”, they managed to obtain more than 56,000 euros illegally from more than 163 people.
The gang used two methods: one known as “smishing”, which is the sending of text messages to mobile phones, and “phishing”, which is the mass sending of emails to potential victims.
Contained in the messages is a link that directs the potential victim to a web page that simulates the website of a bank, websites created by the detainees in order to steal the personal data.
Once the personal data had been obtained fraudulently, the fraudsters requested new bank cards from the banks in the name of the injured parties in order to link them to contactless mobile payment services.
They then carried out withdrawals of the scammed money from ATMs located in different towns of the Valencian Community, the Murcia Region and the Andalusian Autonomous Community.
The gang leaders are four brothers of Moroccan nationality, all between 23 and 32 years of age, who coordinated and distributed the tasks and functions with the rest of the members of the gang.
Also arrested was a 23-year-old woman of Swedish nationality; a 24-year-old man of Venezuelan nationality; a 48-year-old male of Spanish nationality; and two women of Spanish nationality aged 37 and 22.
The Civil Guard was able to recover: 17,500 euros in cash, 630 dollars, 17 high-end telephones, 3 passenger cars, a large number of SIM cards, cryptocurrency purchase tickets, various bank cards, documentation that shows money being transferred to Morocco, as well as computer equipment.
