Tenerife Trio Stole €200,000 With Scam Texts

A group of scammers stole thousands from their unsuspecting victims with false texts pretending to be sent from a bank.

Three male suspects were arrested in Tenerife for defrauding 170 people through bulk SMS pretending to be from a bank, according to a report from the Guardia Civil.

Gang Stole Victims’ Bank Details

The Guardia Civil has arrested three people in Tenerife and is investigating a fourth for defrauding 170 victims by sending fraudulent SMS (Short Message Service, or text messages). They have been charged with crimes of belonging to a criminal group, continuous fraud, money laundering, usurpation of civil status and illegal possession of weapons.

The fraudsters sent messages, allegedly from a bank, in which the recipient was informed of a supposed security problem that had to be solved urgently by clicking on the link they sent.

Once accessed, the victims entered their bank details and gave the passwords to the three suspects. The gang then made online purchases with the compromised accounts and then sold these products online.

The suspects would then collect the goods in person from pick-up lockers, which are accessed by a code without the need to interact with the company’s employees.

Once the goods were collected, they were then sold to third parties on websites that sell second-hand goods. The suspects offered the products at reduced prices and reaped lucrative profits.

Some of the illegal funds were invested in cryptocurrencies and then converted back into conventional currency before being transferred to their bank accounts. In this way, they declared the profits as coming from their investments, thus qualifying for the crime of money laundering.

Scammers Brought To justice

Thanks to the data provided by Banco Santander and after a thorough analysis of the information, it was discovered that the amount swindled by the criminal network was in excess of €200,000, affecting more than 170 people throughout Spain.

Investigators have carried out two searches on the island of Tenerife, in which they seized items related to the fraudulent operation. The items included 70 SIM cards; 38 top range mobile phones, some still in their original packaging intended for resale; four laptops, documentation related to the fraudulent purchases; around €4,000 in cash and a hand-held taser type weapon.

During the course of the investigation, the Bank Security and Fraud teams of Banco Santander formed a joint investigation team.