Alex Trelinski
A CYBERSCAM that netted €1.9 million has been busted by the Policia Nacional with 760 victims conned via bogus bank text messages.
A dozen arrests have been made with everybody being remanded in custody.
The gang was based in Sabadell(Barcelona province) and sent up to 1,000 texts per minute to potential victims.
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The Policia Nacional said the sophisticated operation included 660 people who acted as ‘mules’ to make ATM withdrawals from hijacked accounts in return for a fee.
The ‘mules’ were recruited by ‘droppers’ who received up to €100 per new ‘mule’ and also a commission based on profits made ranging between 5% and 10%.
The police analysed more than 700 telephone lines, 2,455 mobile phones, 3,000 bank accounts and 86 email accounts used the gang in an operation that started in January 2023.
The investigation was prompted by complaints from numerous victims in the Sabadell area.
The multiple text messages were sent to a list of potential victims compiled by a computer programme, alerting them that their bank account was blocked and that they had to access a link.
That link opened a screen of a fake bank website and by entering passwords, the fraudsters could gain access to accounts.
The gang then called the victims by phone, posing as the bank manager, to ask for the double verification codes with which they could make transfers, bizums or ATM via their ‘mules’- main Catalunya residents.
Once the money was obtained, it was forwarded to various accounts to avoid tracking and then finally transformed it into cash or cryptocurrency.
According to the Policia Nacional, the criminals also scammed some of its victims through the ‘son in distress’ system, where victims called a parent pretending to be their son to ask them for money.
