Nine people have been arrested in Valencia, Cantabria and Valladolid for having defrauded 32 people, all clients of prostitution websites or payment contacts, with the so-called hitman scam: the threat of receiving a beating or worse if the victim does not pay extortion, which in one case has risen to 12,000 euros.
Those arrested, who also scammed with false job offers, did not hesitate to leave anyone who refused to pay for dead.
A chat released by the Civil Guard between the extortionist and the victim ends with this phrase: “Calm down, they will kill you.”
The operation began in March, when one of the victims reported that, days after requesting contacts with women through a website, he received threats by mobile messaging in which a stranger demanded money in exchange for not sending a message to his home. hitman to beat him up or kill him.
This is how the hitman's scam begins, in which the scammer attacks his victim, first with the shame of spreading his habits and, if he does not give in, with the threat that they will go visit him at his house or work, where They will settle accounts with violence.
Many pay.
The network has had at least 32 victims from whom they have taken 40,000 euros.
The conversations that victims and criminals had.
– “You said it was over,” the victim tells the scammer, who demands another payment of 3,000 euros
–“Well, the partners are going to your house, the criminal answers,” the extortionist threatens.
– “Now I'm calling the police,” the extorted person defends himself (...)
–”Calm down, they will kill you.
Aren't you going to pay?”, specifies the scammer.
– “Well, kill [sic] everyone,” answers the extorted person.
The authors were also dedicated to scams associated with false job offers through the Internet, social networks and other media.
Their victims interacted with them through phone calls and messages, and, after reaching an alleged “agreement,” their victims sent copies of their personal documents, ID, as well as bank account numbers.
As a result of the operation, seven people have been arrested in Valencia and another two in Cantabria and Valladolid.
The detainees are accused of extortion, threats, fraud, identity theft, money laundering and membership in a criminal organization.