The Civil Guard has arrested two people who are accused of scamming 175,000 euros that they obtained using a form of cybercrime known as “Romance Scam” or love scam. It consists of gaining the trust of the victim, faking a romantic relationship with her, in order to ask her for money.
The operation, which the Civil Guard baptized “Fake Gold”, is based on the complaint filed by a woman from Gata de Gorgos (Alicante) who claimed to have been scammed.
The complainant had met a man through a popular social network more than a year ago. After several days of exchanging messages, they agreed to have a more direct conversation. The individual claimed to reside in the United States, which made it difficult to meet him in person.
To gain the victim's trust, the scammer established a close relationship, making her believe in the existence of a genuine love bond. Until she requested financial help to recover a briefcase supposedly full of gold, acquired through a fictitious inheritance. The money borrowed would be used to cover fees and taxes related to the inheritance, while the scammer made his victim believe that the gold would be for both of them in the future.
After the first transfer, the criminal continued with the scam, achieving successive payments. The fictitious relationship reportedly lasted 14 months, during which they exchanged daily messages. The victim made transfers worth more than €80,000, including selling properties and engaging with lenders to make payments.
Investigations revealed that once the victim made the transfers, the fraudster redistributed them among several bank accounts to launder the money, eliminating any trace of its origin.
In addition, it was discovered that eleven other victims in different towns in Spain, such as Roquetas de Mar (Almería), Lepe (Huelva), Valdemoro (Madrid), San Ildefonso (Segovia), Premià de Mar (Barcelona), Barbastro (Huesca), Pamplona (Navarra), Buñol (Valencia), Almoradí and Cocentaina (Alicante), had fallen into the same trap.
On September 26, in the city of Valencia, the two alleged perpetrators were arrested, a man and a woman aged 33 and 66, who were charged with twelve crimes of fraud for a total value of 175,000 euros.
The Civil Guard seized a mobile phone device and eight bank accounts of the detainees are being investigated. The intervention of the bank accounts in the possession of the suspects has been requested.
