Criminal Group Arrested for €500,000 Assassination Scam
They threatened victims with death through videos in which they posed as hitmen while brandishing weapons.
The group obtained personal information and phone numbers from victims via websites offering adult services.
The Civil Guard, under the framework of the Operation Mamol TF, has arrested and investigated 19 individuals residing in A Coruña province, all part of a criminal organisation that extorted their victims. This was achieved after victims accessed adult content websites. Authorities have identified over 300 people affected, with a total of €500,000 defrauded.
The investigation began after several complaints in Tenerife
The investigation commenced over a year ago following reports made by victims at the Civil Guard station on the island of Tenerife. According to these reports, victims began to receive serious threats via mobile messaging after providing their phone numbers and other personal details on adult sites.
These threats were accompanied by videos depicting physical violence against third parties. In the recordings, the extortionists brandished firearms and demanded monetary payments as a condition for the victims to avoid similar assaults.
What is the Assassination Scam?
This practice is known as the assassination scam. Through this scheme, criminals post false advertisements on websites offering adult services. Once a victim engages their services, they begin to receive threats from a supposed hitman if they do not pay a specified amount.
Due to fear of these threats, victims sometimes agree to pay, although the scammers may continue their coercion and demand more money. Through various computer analyses and examination of documents, devices, and lines, investigators discovered that the extortionists had carried out over 370 criminal acts using this modus operandi, defrauding €500,000 and transferring €180,000 to the Dominican Republic via various companies. The competent judicial authority has placed three of those arrested in provisional custody.
The operation has been executed by the Cyber Crime Investigation Teams (EDITE) from the Organised Judicial Police Units in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and A Coruña, coordinated by Court No. 3 in A Coruña and the Cyber Crime Delegation of the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.
