The relevant judicial authority has issued a decree for the provisional imprisonment of three of the individuals arrested.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Marc. (Europa Press) –
The Civil Guard, as part of ‘Operation Mamol TF’, has apprehended and investigated a total of 19 individuals, residents of the province of A Coruña, who are linked to a criminal syndicate that extorts its victims via adult content websites.
The authorities have identified over 300 victims, who collectively lost 500,000 euros, as stated by the security agency in a press release.
The investigation commenced more than a year ago following complaints lodged by the victims at the Civil Guard in Tenerife. According to the victims, they started to receive severe threats through mobile messaging after entering their phone numbers and other personal information on adult websites.
These threats were accompanied by videos depicting physical assaults on third parties, wherein extortionists brandished firearms and demanded monetary payments to prevent victims from suffering similar violence.
The agents noted that this tactic is referred to as the Timo del Sicario. In this manner, criminals post fraudulent advertisements on websites that provide adult services, and once the victim engages with them, they begin to receive threats from a purported hitman unless they pay a certain amount.
Out of fear of these threats, victims sometimes agree to make payments, yet the fraudsters often continue their intimidation and demand additional money.
Following extensive analysis of computing devices, documents, and communications, investigators discovered that the extortionists had executed over 370 criminal activities using this method, amassing 500,000 euros and transferring 180,000 euros to the Dominican Republic through various entities.
The appropriate judicial authority has now mandated the provisional imprisonment of three of the apprehended individuals.
This operation was conducted by the Computer and Technological Crime Investigation Teams (EDITA) of the Organic Judicial Police Units in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and A Coruña, and it was coordinated by the Court of Instruction No. 3 of A Coruña alongside the provincial prosecutor’s office for computer crimes.
