Alcoy father and son caught in €50k scam

A FATHER and son team of swindlers stole their employers’ identities and credit card details to fund an online betting habit before being snared in a National Police investigation.

Using the adopted identities, the Alcoy pair masterminded a €50,000 internet scam – disguising the fraud by setting up an account with an on-line bank to pay directly for their internet spending.

However, the 51-year-old father and his 21-year-old son were caught out when the dishonesty continued despite victims cancelling credit cards and obtaining new ones.

A spokesman for the police said this week that detectives were able to establish a modus operandi and discovered the thieves, both Ecuadorians, were employed by a family in Alcoy.

The investigation started last July when police received a string of complaints from various family members about the fraudulent use of their credit cards – their accounts had been debited by a well-known online betting company to a total of €20,000.

Months later, the victims discovered another round of charges on their accounts, a similar amount from the betting site and from various bars in the town.

The spokesman added: “Detectives focussed their investigation on the environment close to the family, because, despite changing credit cards and increasing security, they suffered another scam over the internet and charges made in pubs in the locality.

“Following the fingerprints of the dishonest activity, officers discovered a trail left by the scammers from the betting website back to an online bank, this account was used to make their detection more difficult,” he said.

“With the different inquiries being made and with computer tracking, the investigation focussed on two of the household staff and officers suspected they could be the fraudsters.”

Father and son were arrested and charged with identity theft and fraud.