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Europa Press
Malaga
Tuesday, 24 September 2024, 12:35
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Guardia Civil officers have arrested five people for allegedly swindling 325,000 euros from two women using the infamous 'Brad Pitt' scam.
Spanish police carried out the complex investigation in the provinces of Almeria, Malaga, Vizcaya, Barcelona, Granada, Madrid, Huelva and Seville. Police recovered 85,000 euros of the total money swindled from the two victims during the investigation and also arrested the two main ringleaders of the network. Police also opened an investigation into ten other people belonging to the gang.
The police operation started in August 2023 when a resident of Granada reported that scammers had swindled her out of 175,000 euros by making her believe she was in an online relationship with the famous American actor Brad Pitt, and that he was the one asking her for the money. Officers then discovered a second victim in Vizcaya who had also been conned in the same way.
Proceedings were opened last year by Granada magistrate's court, and resulted in two people being initially arrested and provisionally released. Police then carried out five house searches and seized several mobile phones, bank cards, prepaid telephone cards, two personal computers and documentation that included a list of phrases used by fraudsters to deceive their victims.
The cybercriminals, in order to capture victims, had previously studied their social media profiles and made a psychological profile of them, discovering that both women were apparently "vulnerable, lacking in affection and in a depressive state".
They also used instant messaging platforms to "exchange messages and emails with the two women to a point where they believed they were chatting with Brad Pitt himself, who was promising them a romantic relationship and a future together".
When the level of trust between the fraudsters and the victims was at its peak, the fake actor proposed they invest with him in various business projects. Both victims made numerous money transfers to him until they discovered they had been conned and reported the incident to police.
Police discovered the cybercriminals had created a network of bank accounts set up with forged documents of people of African nationalities such as Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, into which they received the stolen money. They also allegedly used "mules" who, in exchange for a small amount of cash, would receive the money and then transfer it to other accounts to launder it.
Following the investigation, two people were arrested in San Isidro de Níjar in Almeria and a third person was also arrested in Malaga for receiving part of the swindled money in their bank accounts.
Between January and February 2024, the Guardia Civil investigated three other people in Amorebieta (Vizcaya), one in Huelva, three in Seville, one in Madrid, one in Barcelona and another one in Granada. The alleged ringleaders of the dismantled criminal organisation were arrested in Torremolinos and Malaga.
During the investigation, police also discovered that the son of the Granada victim had made three fraudulent charges with his mother's bank card and had stolen 17,000 euros from her, for which he was also arrested. Investigators ruled out that the son had anything to do with the dismantled criminal organisation.
The organisation has been charged with the alleged fraud, money laundering, falsification of documents and membership of a criminal gang.
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