Fooled for love by fake cop
Fraudster claimed he was going to sell a property and would be able to pay victim back
THE GUARDIA Civil have arrested two people in Guardamar del Segura for allegedly conning €57,000 out of a woman using a so-called ‘romance scam’.
This involves gaining the victim’s confidence by faking a romantic relationship in order to borrow money from them and never pay it back, explained a spokesman for the force.
This investigation, directed by a court in Denia, was launched by the Guardia Civil computer crimes unit, the Equipo @, after the woman, who lives in Teulada, made an official complaint.
She said she had got to know a man through a wellknown dating application just over a year ago, and after a few days of chatting on the app they exchanged telephone numbers.
After a while she became convinced they were in a real relationship and started proposing they meet in person, but he always made excuses for work or personal reasons.
The fraudster told her he belonged to the state security forces and came from a wealthy family which owned a construction company in Elche, and was investing in a luxury house in Elche so that he could move closer to her.
The man also claimed he had a teenage son with problems, that he looked after his
sick mother (and even lied to her later that she had died), and that he was trying to save the family business as one of the partners had driven it to ruin.
When the fraudster eventually did meet her, he was pretending to be one of his relatives and told her about the problems with his son, his mother and the family business to make his lies seem more credible.
He even pretended to be his teenage son contacting her by mobile messages and asking for financial help for his father. By this time the victim was convinced they were going to become a family and started lending him money.
Sometimes he claimed he was going to sell a property and would be able to pay her back, but always said later that a new problem came up so he could not and would actually need more money.
The fictitious relationship lasted 14 months, during which time they exchanged hundreds of messages and the victim made transfers to her supposed partner for a total of €57,000 over the course of eight months.
The investigation established that as soon as this money had been deposited, it was withdrawn in cash in order to launder it.
Officers entered and searched the suspect’s house in Guardamar del Segura, where they arrested the prime suspect and his girlfriend, both aged 39, who he lived with and not only knew what was going on but also profited from the criminally obtained money, the spokesman alleged.
Electronic devices used by the suspects have been seized and will be analysed in detail, and the court has been asked to freeze their bank accounts.