Lorraine Williamson
ALMERIA – The criminal gang impersonated the victim’s identity to access her digital banking and obtain a credit card associated with her checking account.
The detainees used the card to make purchases in the most exclusive clothing stores in the province, purchase high-end perfumery products, watches, the latest generation mobiles and jewellery, as well as make payments in betting shops.
Arrests
The Guardia Civil of Almería has arrested 3 people who stole €352,000 using a credit card belonging to the victim. The suspects were able to access this person’s digital banking and, after modifying the contact information that appeared, request a credit card associated with the checking account. Furthermore, the detainees took advantage of the fact that the victim barely consulted his bank movements to withdraw large amounts of cash and make innumerable payments over five months.
Operation Monopoly-356
This action is part of the ‘Operation Monopoly-356’, developed by the @ Team of Almería with the support of the teams of the Organic Unit of the Judicial Police of Almería for Crimes against Property and the Socioeconomic Order, Economic Crimes and Crimes Telematics (EDITE).
In a first phase of the operation, the agents arrested 2 people who had impersonated the victim’s identity to access their digital banking.
Credit card being used
Once the alleged perpetrators obtained the requested credit card, they began making cash withdrawals at multiple ATMs belonging to different banking entities. In addition, the detainees made purchases in the most exclusive clothing stores in the province and acquired fine perfumery, the latest generation mobile terminals and jewelry. In addition, they charged the fraudulently obtained credit card with payments worth €18,000 in bookmakers.
Once the Guardia Civil identified the alleged perpetrators, several members of Equipo @ proceeded to enter and search the house where they lived. In the home, €82,800 in cash was hidden and different objects worth €40,000 were seized. Among which were more than a hundred items of clothing and bags from renowned designers, around twenty high-quality perfumery items , six state-of-the-art mobile phones, a large-inch Smart TV, top-brand sports shoes and sneakers, a smart watch and two high-end watches, different pieces of jewellery and an electric scooter.
Operation phase two
In a second phase of the operation, the agents arrested another individual who had carried out the task of capturing the first detainees and providing them with the credit card that allowed them to withdraw the money in cash and make purchases.
Moreover, thanks to this action by the Guardia Civil of Almería, the injured party has been able to recover the €82,800 in cash seized.
The investigation is still open, so new arrests are not ruled out
The Guardia Civil emphasises the importance of taking security measures when creating passwords, for which it recommends avoiding the use of short passwords that can be obtained through social engineering, and establishing others that contain special characters and in which capital letters are combined, lowercase and numbers.
Likewise, it is recommended not to click on any links to web pages that are received through instant messaging or SMS, nor to ever provide personal data, or passwords.
However, if, despite taking all possible precautions, you are the victim of fraud of this type, it is essential to file a complaint and communicate the events that occurred to the banking entities as soon as possible.
Also read: One of the most common scams is carding