The Guardia Civil team in Huesca solves 23 crimes of fraud, money laundering and belonging to a criminal group
Agents from the Cybercrime Advisory, Prevention and Response Team (Team @) of the Civil Guard Command of Huesca, have concluded Operation CAPSMILE, with the arrest of 1 person and the investigation of 3 others, as alleged perpetrators of crimes of fraud, money laundering and belonging to a criminal group.
At the end of 2023, the agents in charge of cybercrime investigations began to detect a consecutive increase in a type of scam consisting of the mass sending of text messages specifically impersonating banking entities.
The messages were created by the perpetrators to cause panic among the victims, warning them of potential problems with their bank accounts due to alleged fraudulent charges. Each message included a link that the victims clicked, directing them to a website that mimicked their bank's website. Once there, the victims entered their login credentials and passwords to cancel the supposed transaction, thus granting the cybercriminals access to their accounts. Within five minutes, the criminals withdrew the money from ATMs located in various parts of Barcelona.
Given the increase in complaints filed between November 2023 and January 2024 in the towns of Almudévar, Barbastro, Benasque, Binéfar, Fraga, Graus, Jaca, Monzón, Sariñena, Tamarite de Litera and Zaidín , the agents of the Equipo@ prioritized locating the ATMs used by cybercriminals, observing that they traveled to different places to complete the crime and thus hinder the police work.
After months of investigation, the Huesca Command planned an operation to arrest and investigate the implicated individuals. Once investigators located the suspects in various towns near Barcelona, between June 24th and 26th, they arrested one individual, a 32-year-old man from Barcelona, and began investigating three others, aged between 22 and 23, also from Barcelona.
This means that two of those under investigation are currently incarcerated in prisons for similar offenses.
The proceedings conducted by the Guardia Civil team in Huesca were sent to the Courts of First Instance and Instruction number 3 of Huesca and the Court of First Instance and Instruction Number 2 of Vic.
Recommendations from the @ Team of the Civil Guard of Huesca to minimize the risk of these types of scams:
- Remember that instant messages sent by banks do not contain links. If you receive one that includes a link, even if it appears in the same message thread as your bank, it is fake.
- Your bank will never send you an instant message or call you to carry out a banking transaction (transfer, payment, Bizum…) nor will it ask you for private information through these channels, such as your online banking access code or one-time codes.
- Be wary of any alarming messages that have an urgent tone, contain spelling mistakes or typos, and those that are not addressed to you personally.
- Activate biometric signature and access in the bank's application on our phone.
- If the scam has been carried out, contact the Civil Guard, either at the nearest barracks, where you can file a complaint, or get information from the Cybercrime Advice, Prevention and Response Team (Equipo @) of the Civil Guard of Huesca, through the Central 062.
