Malaga warns about alleged pyramid scheme spreading across the city and towns in the province's interior

Victims have already filed the first reports and the police are urging the public to exercise caution.

The scam usually begins on social media platforms such as TikTok through promotional videos created using AI (artificial intelligence). These videos promise victims guaranteed daily profits in the cryptocurrency market and through 'copy trading' (copying trades made by so-called experts), promoting the idea that you don't need any financial knowledge to get rich.

To start trading, the platform requires users to follow a series of steps. Firstly, they must make an initial investment, which usually ranges from 300 to 500 euros. Next, they are urged to install an unofficial app via an external link, as the app cannot be downloaded from secure app stores such as Google Play or the App Store.

Finally, the network encourages users to become "ambassadors" or sales agents, promising commissions if they manage to persuade neighbours, friends or family members to invest their money as well.

The scheme follows the classic pyramid scam model, adapted to the new digital environment. Once the money has been deposited, the app displays on screen how the balance and the supposed profits are growing at a dizzying rate. However, Andrés Román, head of the cybercrime section at the provincial police, said that this is a "magic trick": "Those figures are fake and are programmed to make the victim believe they are making money."

Román pointed out that these are not genuine profits: the network is simply returning part of the victim's own money to them or crediting them with the capital that new users have just deposited. Seeing that they are "getting paid", the person becomes complacent, believes they have found a legitimate job and becomes the main promoter of the fraud, spreading it by word of mouth in their neighbourhood or village.

"Nobody gives away money for free. The person believes they are working and starts to earn money in excess of what they have invested, becoming an evangelist for the scam, but all they are doing is spreading the fraud. In reality, they are doing the work for those at the top, who operate from the shadows and whom nobody knows in person," he explained.

Jesús, a 46-year-old resident of Campanillas, decided to post an advert on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) following an offer from a work colleague and his wife. "They told me they'd started with 1,000 euros and that the app showed they already had 2,200. They told me they were given training courses, that they had to complete three a day and that once they'd finished them, the earnings would appear, but they couldn't really explain what they were doing," he said.

After asking around among his acquaintances, Jesús realised that the scheme was spreading like wildfire. "They told me there were people involved in Cártama, El Palo, Puerto de la Torre and even hospital staff. I posted the message on social media to see if anyone would reply and it was flooded with comments. This sounds just like the old-fashioned pyramid schemes and it looks very much as though more than a few people are going to be left high and dry very soon."

Román said that, for the time being, the number of formal complaints filed at police stations is very low. "At the moment, they do not pose a threat, but it is a social reality and people do not usually come forward to report it because they feel ashamed, because the sums involved are small or because the people who have taken the money are their own relatives or friends."

The head of the cybercrime unit warns anyone acting as a recruiter or promoting this scheme that they could face criminal liability as accomplices or accessories to the fraud. He also advises the public to exercise extreme caution, not to invest funds or provide personal details on unregulated platforms and to be systematically wary of any offer promising guaranteed returns.

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