A Criminal Network Responsible for Defrauding 10 Million Euros Through Call Centres Implicates Alicante

Up to 10 million euros have been defrauded from hundreds of people by a criminal network operating from call centres based in Barcelona. Although the epicentre of the scheme was in the Catalan capital, Alicante has also been implicated in the case, as one of the 21 individuals arrested during the operation was apprehended in the province.

The operation, dubbed 'Digital Smoke', was carried out jointly by the National Police, the Civil Guard, and the Mossos d'Esquadra. Their coordinated action dismantled this criminal organisation, which operated as a phantom company persuading its victims to make false investments. This was achieved through a network of supposed advisors and experts, altered websites, and even telephone switchboards in rented premises, where "workers" would lure and manipulate their victims over extended periods.

In total, they are attributed with a cumulative fraud exceeding 10 million euros and more than 300 complaints across the national territory since their activities began in 2022.

In addition to the arrest in Alicante, 17 people were arrested in Barcelona, two in Madrid, and one in Mallorca; among them, the three main leaders, who have been remanded in custody.

Additionally, seven high-end vehicles (some valued at over 100,000 euros), a firearm, cash worth one million euros, and cryptocurrency wallets valued at over 300,000 were seized. Finally, jewellery, luxury watches, documents, and computer equipment were also confiscated, with analysis expected to take months.

The investigation began in 2024 when evidence led to the merging of several lines of inquiry from different police forces. These investigations led to an organisation based in Catalonia, characterised by a high level of professionalism and its ability to defraud its victims over years.

The group operated as a fake investment company advertising its services on social media and internet search engines through technically realistic but fake websites. They also offered investments in well-known companies or the cryptocurrency sector to attract their victims.

Once they managed to get a victim to show interest and provide their contact details, the organisation would contact them and begin a laborious process of seduction and deception from the call centres.

For example, one of the first frauds attributed to the organisation is a particularly severe scam where a victim, in August 2024, reported a cumulative fraud exceeding 700,000€. The level of professionalism and persuasion of the criminals is such that the first contacts with this victim occurred two years earlier, where they managed to seduce him into making small investments of between 200 and 300€, sending the money to foreign accounts directly controlled by the criminals.

The fraudsters deceived their victims with a succession of fake advisors and experts, falsified platforms, and fake trade names to maximise their economic resources. Under the pretext of facilitating investments, they installed remote control applications on the victims' devices, from where they could access their funds more easily.

Additionally, they had fraudulent digital platforms, similar to legitimate ones, to display fake profit graphs to convince victims to make increasingly significant investments. If the defrauded individuals wanted to recover their money and collect the supposed profits, they would contact them under other trade names to offer to recover their money in exchange for new contributions.

To achieve the deception, they created fake documentation and rented premises in Barcelona for periods of three or four months to hinder the investigation. There, they had teams of "workers" under their orders, responsible for capturing, retaining, and attacking the victims' funds. They had state-of-the-art computer equipment and even a panic button that automatically disconnected the entire system in case the police raided the premises.

As a result of the investigation's efforts, the joint team was able to verify and track the different locations in Catalonia where the alleged fraudsters carried out their criminal activities. This is uncommon, as these call centres are usually located outside Spain, such as in Asian or Eastern European countries, where police control over these activities is not as intense.

The criminal group resorted to psychological manipulation techniques through which they managed to get their victims into a spiral of financial contributions, exploiting their emotional weaknesses. Initially, they established what the criminal group called an "emotional bond", with which they gained the trust of the defrauded, gradually encouraging them to make more significant financial transfers, in a process they called "burning their accounts".