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Irene Quirante
Malaga
Friday, 28 April 2023, 17:48
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Spanish police have arrested a gang of crooks in Malaga who swindled around 300 victims of two million euros through fake hotel vouchers.
National Police officers arrested eight people, including two main ringleaders, who set up the 40-night vouchers in national and international hotels at bargain prices scam.
The investigation started in February last year when police became aware of the scheme which involved supposed travel agencies contacting their victims by telephone to offer 40-night hotel vouchers. The payments were processed during these calls.
The victims thought that once payment had been made, they would be able to redeem the voucher. But they were only given the option of doing so through the reservation telephone number of these companies, which never answered their calls, police said.
According to investigators, those involved in the scheme were marketing specialists and had perfected their sales pitches using a script they read out each time to deceive victims.
The pitch was delivered in a confusing way where the fraudsters told the victims that they could not interrupt them while they were being read the legal terms, which were extensive. They sought to overwhelm them with information to prevent them from understanding what they were actually paying for, police said.
Victims were also duped by the false pretext that they would be eligible for a free gift if they provided information about their close friends. To receive the gift, they were told to provide the contacts of at least 20 to 25 friends.
The crooks used a parent company, located in Malaga province, to give their business a false legal front.
The investigation was carried out by specialist office from the central cybercrime unit and the Malaga North District police headquarters.
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