The National Police have dismantled a criminal organization in Madrid and Barcelona that defrauded more than 12 million euros through 'phishing', a method of impersonation and theft of digital identity.

Some 300 victims

have been detected in several countries

who, through a false website of a bank, invested in cryptocurrency operations and other financial products.

The investigation began as a result of a complaint made by the legal representative of a bank, where he informed that his digital identity had been supplanted through the creation of a web page that, making improper use of brands and names,

imitated being a website of the complainant financial group.

The operation has led

to the arrest of six people allegedly responsible for belonging to a

criminal organization, fraud, money laundering and usurpation of civil status.

Specifically, they simulated financial operations with this well-known bank and then laundered the defrauded through bank accounts in different Spanish and foreign financial entities.

As reported by the National Police, said website used a false domain, similar to the original domain of the bank, leading to confusion.

The purpose of this false website was to attract the attention of potential French clients so that they could carry out deposit or investment operations, convinced that they were doing so with the complainant financial institution.

Shortly after

, the existence of new web pages was detected with the same purpose, to

usurp the identity of the complainant bank and the entities that are part of its group.

The fraud method used by the criminal group consisted of offering any potential client, through fraudulent websites, the possibility of carrying out different financial operations, such as contracting investment products such as variable income, futures and cryptocurrencies, and the contracting of financing products.

In both cases, the funds of the scammed people were transferred to current accounts opened in Spain, Portugal, Poland and France.

Subsequently, the money was moved for laundering between accounts that the organization had in different countries.

According to the information provided by those affected and after the procedures carried out by the investigators, it was verified that the destination of the funds were Spanish bank accounts,

amounting to the volume of fraud to 12,345,731 euros.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • National Police

  • Portugal

  • Poland

  • France