Alex Trelinski
A 33-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested in Valencia province for pretending to have a logistics firm that despatched items internationally but kept the goods to sell them off.
The fraudster from Equatorial Guinea operated in the Horta Nord area and ran social media adverts posing as a well-known transport company to attract victims.
Online photographs showed him working in an office and reviewing orders as well as images of a fleet of trucks and containers being loaded onto ships.
The Guardia Civil started investigating in May after two complaints from foreign nationals in Spain who had been hoodwinked by the man into sending their belongings abroad via his fictitious company.
The first victim handed over items worth €6,000 and a €1,200 fee to the conman, while a second person entrusted the man to send a shipment valued at €12,000.
The Guardia identified a warehouse where a large amount of items were stored ahead of being sold off little by little.
A significant amount of goods belonging to the two complainants were recovered with authorities warning people not to solely trust social media adverts for shipments of valuables.
