Text message conartists tracked down
Offenders assumed the identity of a wellknown bank
SUSPECTED fraudsters have been arrested in Almoradí for allegedly conning almost € 20,000 out of eight victims by sending out text messages as bait – a technique known as ‘ smishing’.
The first complaint was made in San Juan, where the victim reported having received a message from their bank informing them there had been a security incident and asking them to click on a link and answer some questions.
The victim said that once they had done this their bank account was emptied.
The suspects were quickly
traced to Almoradí, where officers followed their movements and established that they had been sending text messages in bulk posing as a wellknown bank.
Victims were asked to fill in
their personal information and access codes, then were sent another text message as confirmation, enabling the criminals to access their accounts.
The suspects had been withdrawing the funds from two cash machines situated inside brothels in the Vega Baja area, noted the spokesman. However all three of them were arrested less than three weeks after the first crime was reported, one in possession of € 1,320 he had just taken out of a victim’s account.
The suspects are three Moroccan men aged 22, 26 and 29, who were put before a court and granted supervised release.
The Guardia Civil recommended that messages like these should not be trusted and that any request for personal information or access codes should be confirmed directly with the bank before replying.