The National Police Prevents a Movie-Like Scam in Alicante: Attempt to Defraud 400,000 Euros by Multiplying Banknotes with Chemical Products

The National Police in Alicante has thwarted a scam reminiscent of movies, where the alleged fraudster was on the verge of completing the crime and acquiring 400,000 euros by deceiving the victim with the promise of multiplying cash. Using the 'washwash' technique, the detainee, a 58-year-old Nigerian national, claimed he could multiply banknotes, turning black-tinted papers into genuine ones, according to investigation sources.

The fraudster attempted to purchase commercial premises from the victim, offering over a million euros for them. However, when it came time to pay, he revealed a "family secret." The suspect demonstrated how they multiplied money using a series of chemicals and black papers from several original banknotes. After the demonstration, they arranged to meet again, this time in an unfinished apartment, where the money and its subsequent manipulation would be handed over. It was then that the agents caught the fraudster, preventing the scam from being completed.

The investigation began after the victim reported the incident to the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit of the Provincial Police Station in Alicante. The owner of several commercial premises in the city suspected he was being scammed. This individual claimed that someone had contacted him through one of his tenants to purchase these premises, offering him a million euros.

The property owner requested assurance about the money, but the buyer assured him it was in Switzerland and could be brought without issue, arranging another meeting later. In this new meeting, the buyer contacted him to pick him up and take him to a safe place to show it, so the victim drove him to his private residence.

There, the alleged fraudster revealed his "family secret," which involved multiplying legal banknotes using chemicals, applying liquids to the tinted banknotes to make them genuine. After explaining, the suspect took products from a backpack, as well as a folded sheet of aluminum foil. He placed two fifty-euro notes lent by the victim inside. After mixing them with the tinted ones, he put everything in a dish and applied reactive liquids, making the banknotes appear "washed" and tripling the real amount.

Following this demonstration and under the premise that if the secret was revealed, the deal would not be closed, he requested 400,000 euros in 50, 100, 200, and 500 euro notes to transform them into 1.1 million euros, leaving all the tools used at the victim's residence. The victim stated he needed time to gather the money, so they agreed on another meeting. However, the seller began to suspect he might be a victim of a scam, so he decided to report the incident.

After his statements at the police station, the agents confirmed it was a 'washwash' scam and decided to set up a police operation around the residence where the exchange would take place. On the day of the meeting, the agents detected the alleged fraudster, who approached the location taking numerous security measures.

The individual entered the building and went up with the victim to an apartment he had on the upper floor of his residence, which was under construction. There, the manipulation of the banknotes was to take place, but it was at that moment that the police officers entered and arrested the suspect for an alleged fraud offense.

Along with the detainee, who at the time of arrest was about to carry out the treatment of the tinted banknotes, the police operation allowed the seizure of the products and tools intended to perpetrate the scam, as well as preventing a large-scale fraud with the consequent economic damage it would have caused the victim. After the proceedings, all the information was submitted to the courts of instruction in Alicante.

The 'washwash' scam is a sophisticated fraud where the victim is deceived into believing that black-tinted paper can be transformed into genuine banknotes through a chemical process. The fraudsters use a convincing story, often alluding to large fortunes abroad, frequently from Africa, and that to extract it, they tint it black.

To gain trust, the fraudsters perform a demonstration in front of the victim, applying chemical products on tinted sheets or banknotes, which seem to "clean" or "transform" into real money. After this, they give the victim a real banknote to verify its authenticity at the bank, then request a large sum of money, culminating the scam when the subsequent washing is carried out, swapping it with fake or simply tinted banknotes, while they keep the real one.