Three women arrested in Malaga town of Fuengirola for organised theft and fraud against the elderly

Three women were arrested in the Costa del Sol municipality of Fuengirola suspected of operating an organised network that targeted vulnerable elderly people.

As reported by the National Police this Thursday, April 6, the force has broken up a criminal network based in the Costa del Sol resort of Fuengirola. The gang of three females was allegedly dedicated to committing thefts and fraud against especially vulnerable elderly people.

A total of four thefts and three crimes of fraud recently committed in that municipality on the Costa del Sol have been attributed to the criminals by the National Police.

According to the police, the members of the organisation committed their actions in a joint and coordinated manner, with a clear distribution of functions. To carry out the thefts they used the ‘scalping’ method. This is where the criminals located elderly people at ATMs or banking entities, generally on the days of pension collection.

While one of them carried out a distraction manoeuvre, another captured the PIN of the means of payment used by the victim. With great skill, they stole the money already withdrawn from the entity, placing the third member in a strategic area to cover her companions while carrying out surveillance work.

If the circumstances were right, they also stole the bank card to later make withdrawals or refunds of money at ATMs near the place, with the personal identification number displayed, before the injured party was even aware of the fact.

The National Police detailed that, to date, five victims have been located. They have an average age of more than 75 years – one of them suffered from reduced mobility – from whom more than €5,000 have been stolen or defrauded.

Those investigated, aged 32, 42 and 45 years, have a record for crimes of the same nature committed throughout the national territory, in which they would have used several different identities. The National Police pointed out that the three detainees were arrested for their alleged involvement in the crimes of theft, fraud, and belonging to a criminal group, as reported by laopiniondemalaga.es.

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