The Spanish Civil Guard arrested 14 people from different nationalities after the complaint of an 86 -year -old woman who was the victim of a “romantic scam” of an alleged actor of a television series, with which he lost about 354,000 euros.
The scammed octogenarian, which despite his age had knowledge in social networks and good English management, said he had established a romantic relationship with a false profile in a well -known social network that, supposedly belonged to a famous actor from a television series.
The alleged scammer won his trust for several months through daily conversations, sending false photos and affective promises, getting the victim to make multiple bank transfers under false pretexts, such as alleged family emergencies or non -existent investments.
The investigations found that it was a criminal group that operated from Nigeria using false profiles in social networks and messaging applications, which were formerly called “Nigerian letters.”
Many of these profiles “supplanted identities of young and attractive men”, and even fictional characters based on success series, “with the sole objective of emotionally manipulating victims to obtain large sums of money,” says the Civil Guard.
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Staff arrested are, mostly, Nigerians
After consummating the deception, the money was quickly dispersed among multiple bank accounts in various financial entities, making it difficult for more than 100 accounts of 20 entities, including electronic payment platforms.
The detainees are considered assumptions responsible for several crimes of fraud, money laundering and belonging to the criminal organization, the Civil Guard reported in a press release, which this criminal network that operated from Nigeria, using false profiles in social networks and messaging applications.
Among the fourteen detainees are several of Nigerian nationality, among which are some of the main members of this plot, in addition to Malian – one of the leaders – and Spanish.
Among the Spaniards are advanced women, contacted by that criminal organization to facilitate the movement of money defrauded through more than a hundred bank accounts of 20 different entities.
The operation of the Civil Guard took place between February and May of this year, with arrests in six Spanish provinces, and has allowed to recover, so far, about 45,000 euros of the multiple accounts used by the network to bleach money through a complex financial framework.
With EFE information
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