A Gang in Benidorm Dismantled for Rental Scams on an Online Platform

The National Police have dismantled a gang in Benidorm dedicated to scamming third parties through the rental of properties on well-known online platforms. In total, four people have been arrested, two men and two women, aged between 19 and 25, of French, Spanish, and Argentine nationalities.

The group had a leader and three people acting as 'financial mules', receiving money in their accounts illicitly. The involved parties used a well-known property sales and rental platform to attract their victims and thus obtain income through deceit.

The police operation began when they became aware of criminal activities. Apparently, a woman had contacted a man through a property rental and sales platform who was offering a property for rent. Following his instructions, she made two transfers of 500 euros to a woman's account in Benidorm, as a deposit and another for the first month's rent.

The woman realized she had been deceived. Therefore, the National Police questioned the account holder, who claimed she received this money to do "a favor" for a friend, who alleged his accounts were blocked and needed the money withdrawn in cash.

According to the security body in a statement, as investigations continued, the police discovered that this woman was linked to other fraudulent transfers amounting to 6,400 euros. The agents identified four victims from the Canary Islands and Madrid, after confirming that the suspect had not received payroll deposits or regular income since October 2023.

The investigation revealed that both the ad creator and the account holder acted together, also detecting movements to more accounts belonging to other members of this gang. The leader was responsible for attracting victims with ads on a well-known online rental platform, while three people acted as 'financial mules' receiving the transfers.

The arrests were made in the city of Benidorm. It was confirmed that except for one of the detainees, the rest had police records for different incidents. They are all being investigated for alleged fraud and membership in a criminal group. The group's leader has been brought before the Benidorm Guard Court of Instruction.