The Civil Guard of Castellón has arrested a minor and his parents in the town of Gavá (Barcelona) as alleged perpetrators of fraud crimes, money laundering, documentary falsehood and revealing secrets. The detainees allegedly they swindled more than 150,000 euros to about 100 people, as reported by the armed institute in a statement.
The facts have been investigated since February 2020 by the Technological Investigation Team (EDITE) of the Organic Unit of the Judicial Police of the Command of the Civil Guard of Castellón, in the framework of the so-called ‘Operation KUSKU’, which began after a complaint filed by a resident of the town of Benicàssim (Castellón), who had been victim of an online scam, in which he suffered an economic loss of 725 euros after purchasing a mobile terminal from a prestigious brand on a well-known platform dedicated to the purchase and sale of second-hand products between users through the Internet.
throughout the investigation it has been found that the person responsible for organizing all the necessary infrastructure to commit the scams was a young minor, with the knowledge of their parents and, in some cases, with their participation in the illicit activities.
The ‘modus operandi’ used by those now detained consisted mainly of put ads on the aforementioned platforms for the sale of all kinds of items, such as mobile phones, pets and even high-end vehicles, which, once the sale was made and payment received, were not sent to their buyers.
According to what has been inferred from the investigations, the young man, in the course of the negotiations of buying and selling items, appearing to distrust the claims of the people who contacted him to make purchases, asked them for a life certificate to agree to carry out the transactions.
Online shopping
Once he obtained the identity documents of the buyers, these were used to open online bank accounts and later he had the credit cards, with which made online purchases and withdrawals money at ATMs.
In the same way, he requested personal loans in the name of his victims and did not pay their monthly payments, which is why they were included in lists of defaulters, without realizing it. In the same way, several of its victims have been involved in legal proceedings, accused of being the author of the crimes that the young man carried out on their behalf.
Thanks to the hard work carried out by researchers, it has been possible too clarify the complicated situation in which the victims have been involved, shedding light on the facts that upset them and preventing their advancement in the corresponding Courts.
After a laborious process, the civil guards have managed to identify around 100 injured people and the detainees have been able to obtain an estimated economic benefit of more than 150,000 euros during the years 2019 and 2020.
In the home search carried out in the house of the detainees, Computer material has been found that they used to carry out the social engineering necessary for the scams, as photo editors to insert their photo into the identification documents they obtained, such as those found on mobile devices.
To this day, researchers continue to analyze the mobile devices and computer equipment seized in the house search, in which in a first analysis data related to more scams has already been found, which will increase the figures reflected. The investigation of the case has been carried out in the Court of First Instance and Instruction number 4 of Castellon.