Spain Crypto Scam Halted After Draining Over $110 Million

Spain’s authorities reportedly busted a criminal organization orchestrating a massive crypto scam. The scammers embezzled more than $110 million from over 3,000 people across the globe.

The Guardia Civil detained one person who was supposedly part of the crime unit.

Operation ‘Mandoa’ was successful following an investigation that covered the Basque Country and the Balearic Islands. The investigations estimated that the recipient of these counterfeit investments was a firm based in Palma de Mallorca. For its part, the alleged company made separate transfers to nations outside the European Union.

The Guardia Civil confirmed that members of the organization lured victims into their scheme. It is through telephone calls, advertisements in newspapers, or SMS, promising them high returns without risk.

Once formalizing a contract with clients and receiving funds. The scammers provided them access to a website where they could check the profits of their investments with fake graphs. The criminals even instructed fraudulent brokers to stay in touch with victims. So, they could encourage them to keep investing in the scheme.

However, the gang did not honor the people’s request to obtain some of their profits. Instead, they instructed them to transfer more money with excuses such as the closing of annual balance sheets or tax payments.

The police have so far detained only one suspect in Mallorca for being a supposed member of the criminal group.

Such fraud has recently affected numerous individuals, such as a Scottish woman called Jennifer who was left with a $190,000 debt last week after falling victim to a crypto scheme.

Another example is a Hong Kong resident who lost all her money ($900,000). She fell prey to a criminal who contacted her on Instagram and urged her to invest in digital currencies with the promise of great returns.

When trying to withdraw her funds, she was requested to pay a certain fee. The woman even attempted to borrow money from her daughter before realizing she had fallen prey to scammers.