Updated Wednesday, February 7, 2024-13:00

The

National Police

has dismantled an international criminal organization dedicated to the 'son in trouble' scam, in an operation in which it has arrested 65 people between

Malaga, Catalonia and Madrid

, investigated for allegedly causing economic damage of more than 410,000 euros to the victims.

The investigations began in February 2022, when the agents detected a considerable increase in complaints in

Seville

related to the 'son in trouble' scam and which throughout the national territory already number in the hundreds, of which they have clarified 95 to date. moment, as reported by the Police this Wednesday.

The 'modus operandi' of the alleged cybercriminals consisted of addressing their victims through instant messaging applications pretending to be their children, trying to convince them that they were in a delicate situation and subsequently requesting money from their parents.

The detainees acquired databases of potential victims that they used to send

mass SMS

to them. The agents have intervened more than 500 spreadsheet files where personal data of the victims could be found, such as sex, age, country, bank or place of residence.

THE HEADERS, ARRESTED IN MÁLAGA

The Police have located the large nuclei of the organization in Malaga and Girona, where both the ringleaders of the plot and people with different tasks within the network have been identified, such as collectors, computer 'mules' or the recruiters of these same 'mules. '.

The two main leaders of the criminal gang, of Dutch origin, were arrested in the Malaga towns of

Torremolinos and Fuengirola

. In this second municipality, seven collaborators of the same nationality who were dedicated to collecting the swindled money were also arrested.

According to the Police, they traveled from

the Netherlands

to the

Costa del Sol,

crossing into Spain through Girona, to receive economic benefits from the lower echelons of the organization and also carried out capitation tasks for other mules. They lived a high standard of living, staying in luxury hotels and driving high-end rental cars.

In addition to the 65 arrests, the Police have identified 221 people as collaborators in the plot, both in national and international territory, in an operation that remains open.