The Civil Guard has arrested three people for various scams related to the offer of vacation rentals in Torrevieja. The detainees, who are charged with the crimes of continued fraud and belonging to a criminal group, have been placed at the disposal of the Investigating Court No. 2 of the town of Alicante, which has ordered the release of all of them with precautionary measures.
During the months of February and March of this year, the Civil Guard detected an increase in the number of complaints related to scams linked to properties offered in the tourist municipality of Torrevieja. The operation called Mesekito was launched.
The agents discovered that the offers came from web pages dedicated to real estate rental, through which the alleged scammers requested payments by bank transfer or in cash, offering properties that they did not own. After receiving the payment, the bidders disappeared without a trace, without delivering the property and without reimbursing the amounts paid. In addition, to gain the trust of the victims, they did not hesitate to impersonate real estate agencies.
The agents then carried out a detailed analysis of the bank accounts involved in these crimes, which allowed the members of the gang to be identified. They were three Spanish citizens, two men and a woman, between the ages of 42 and 63, some of them with a history of similar acts.
Once the participation of the suspects in some of the crimes investigated was proven, on May 23, three simultaneous searches were carried out at the homes of those involved in Torrevieja, with the support of the Citizen Security Unit of the Alicante Command.
During this operation, bank documentation, material related to the impersonated real estate companies, transfer documents made, mobile phones, more than 10,000 euros in cash, 8 motor vehicles, 8 properties, 1 pension plan and 16 bank accounts used by the gang were seized. . The suspects were arrested on the spot, being accused of a continuous crime of fraud and another of belonging to a criminal group.
After these actions, the agents did not end the operation, and in July they received a European injunction from the Freiburg Provincial Prosecutor's Office (Germany) for a scam related to the dismantled gang where they had defrauded a German couple, 4,000 euros .
Despite these actions, the Civil Guard has not concluded the operation, since there is still documentation to analyze, and it is not ruled out that the number of detainees and victims could increase.
In total, 29 fraud crimes have been clarified so far in which the victims came from Germany, Algeria, Colombia, Ecuador, Poland, Ukraine and Spain. The Civil Guard urges caution and awareness when using online platforms to avoid becoming a victim of real estate scams. It is recommended to request proof of the existence of the property, be wary of offers that are too attractive and collect information about the advertiser and the platform before making payments.
