Fraudster caught

John Ensor

THE Guardia Civil has arrested a scammer based in Alicante who used a fake online presence to swindle thousands of euros from unsuspecting customers.

A report from the Guardia Civil on Thursday, June 29 revealed how the man managed to impersonate 61 people and seven companies and got away with more than €55,000.

The man, who had been on the run from justice for more than a decade, was arrested in Alicante where he ran his lucrative network of fake companies.

As part of Operation ‘ZENIGATA,’ the Guardia Civil arrested a man who defrauded unsuspecting clients under the guise of a well­known online buying and selling platform.

The suspect had evaded the law for over 10 years and has subsequently been charged with the alleged ongoing offences of fraud and usurpation of civil status, money laundering and infringement of industrial property.

Officers also located 180 bank accounts which were used to divert the money from the scams.

Investigations began in January last 2022 when the Guardia Civil received a complaint from a person in Bizkaia, Basque Country, in which he claimed that he had been the victim of an alleged scam, having purchased a video game console over the Internet and never received the product.

Officers started an investigation and were later able to verify how the suspect was offering products through fraudulent websites simulating the name and logos of real businesses.

When the officers had accumulated enough evidence, they succeeded in locating the perpetrator's home.