Fifteen arrested in Alicante for defrauding €400,000 by impersonating bank employees
The Guardia Civil dismantled a criminal network of 15 arrested individuals in Alicante accused of telephone fraud through vishing that caused losses of €400,000 across Spain.
Operation "Lorath" dismantles vishing network with 15 arrests in Alicante
The Guardia Civil has dismantled a criminal organisation based in Alicante specialising in telephone fraud and money laundering, according to ABC. The operation, named "Lorath", resulted in 15 arrests—eight men and seven women aged between 19 and 55—allegedly linked to a criminal scheme active in several provinces across the country.
The case began following a complaint from a sports club in Sant Joan d'Alacant that lost over €53,000 through a technique known as vishing: the fraudsters made telephone calls impersonating security officials from banking entities, creating situations of urgency so that victims would provide verification codes or authorise transactions without knowing they were being defrauded.
Officers from the Investigation Area of the Main Station of the Guardia Civil in that Alicante municipality traced the structure and verified that the organisation had committed 26 fraud offences at different locations across Spain, affecting companies, associations and individuals. The total economic loss comes to approximately €400,000.
The network operated through specialised and differentiated cells. Once victims granted access to their accounts, the money was transferred to accounts controlled by the organisation, many of them managed by third parties recruited specifically for that function—known as bank "mules". Part of the stolen capital was also converted into cryptocurrencies and transferred to international financial platforms.
The investigation also made it possible to identify another 15 people who acted as mules in the service of the criminal scheme. Operations extended to the provinces of Alicante, Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Castellón, Granada, Jaén, Madrid, Málaga, Murcia, Tarragona and Valencia.
Thanks to coordination between the Guardia Civil and the affected banking entities, it was possible to block and recover judicially €20,000 corresponding to one of the investigated frauds. The detainees are accused of the offences of continued fraud, money laundering and membership of a criminal organisation. The case files have been sent to the Instruction Section of the Court of First Instance in Alicante.
Source: ABC