Five convicted by Malaga court after woman scammed out of 112,000 euros by fraudsters posing as US soldier serving in Syria

A court in Malaga has sentenced five people for collaborating in a fraud involving a woman who made money transfers believing it was to help a friend she had met on social media. The scammers pretended to be an American soldier who wanted to establish a romantic relationship with her. By manipulating her, they managed to swindle her out of almost 112,000 euros.

According to the court sentence, the defendants, "by mutual agreement and with the intention of illicit benefit, accepted to collaborate with a person of Nigerian origin" (who has not been located yet), who offered them money in exchange for providing them with bank account numbers. This started in the first quarter of 2018.

The objective was to use the accounts to receive the deposit of different amounts of cash transferred by the victim, "so that the money received in each account would be withdrawn by its holder and handed over" to the person who had contacted them. The court stated that "the defendants - two women and three men - knew that this money had an illicit origin".

According to the court, the victim transferred money thinking that she was helping a friend she had met through social media. The 'friend' in question had introduced himself as 'Zico', pretending to be an American soldier serving in Syria. He manipulated her to believe that he wanted to have a romantic relationship with her.

Once they gained her trust, they convinced her "to make successive transfers to the accounts, supposedly to cover the costs of sending a non-existent package containing money that Zico had supposedly sent her from Syria".

"The victim never received the package she was expecting, nor did she personally meet the person who presented himself as 'Zico' and had falsely become her virtual partner," said the court. As a result, the woman became clinically depressed.

The five defendants were convicted of fraud and sentenced to one year's imprisonment and a fine. They have also been ordered to return the received amount of money - some 111,936 euros - to the victim.

The amounts shall be paid in accordance with the payment plan to be established for each of the convicted persons. The court has suspended the prison sentences and lifted any personal precautionary measures that had been imposed on the accused.