The government delegate in Cantabria, Eugenia Gómez de Diego, announced on Tuesday the arrest of thirteen people in the framework of several operations developed by the Civil Guard against cybercrime in the region, actions that have also allowed more than 76,000 euros to be recovered.
In a press conference with the colonel head of the Civil Guard in Cantabria, Antonio Orantos; the commander and head of the Judicial Police and Information, José Manuel Antón; the first sergeant of the Civil Guard Team @, Carlos Saiz, the delegate has expressly congratulated the team specialized in telematic crimes for its “effort, dedication and effectiveness.”
Among the operations highlighted, Gómez de Diego has detailed Operation FILIIDOLUM, which has resulted in the arrest of eight people —five men and three women— as alleged authors of scams through the method of the “false son of WhatsApp”, a fraud that consists of supplanting the identity of a son or daughter to request money through urgent messages. The victims, eight in total, lost almost 20,000 euros.
Likewise, the delegate has reported the neutralization of an attempt at a business scam through the procedure known as BEC (Business Email Compromise). In this case, a Cantabrian company paid 86,000 euros to a bank account modified fraudulently in an invoice intervened by email. Thanks to the rapid action of the Civil Guard, 76,000 euros have been recovered.
A third operation has ended with five arrests in the Valencian Community —all men between 18 and 25 years old— for their involvement in various scams whose victims resided in Cantabria. Among the facts, there is a case of bank phishing worth 10,000 euros and two frauds in the purchase of a vehicle and a mobile phone, which add up to more than 4,000 euros scammed.
Gómez de Diego has warned that cybercrime is “the fastest growing criminal phenomenon in Cantabria”, with an increase of 9% in computer scams in 2024 and a total of 560 criminal offenses more than the previous year, which contrasts with the decrease in other crimes such as home theft, which has suffered a decrease of 14.6%. “One in four crimes committed in Cantabria is already a cybercrime,” he said.
Finally, the delegate has called for the need to “redouble efforts” from public administrations, security forces and the general public to prevent this type of crime and denounce any attempt at fraud. “Digital scams affect everyone: young people, adults, seniors, self-employed people and entrepreneurs. It is essential to exercise caution and distrust of suspicious messages,” he concluded.
Fake Child Fraud
In Operation FILIIDOLUM, the cybercriminals, through the instant messaging application WhatsApp, sent different messages to the victims, from a number unknown to them, although they indicated that they were their children, that they had had problems with their phone and that therefore they contacted from another number.
Fraudsters point to a number of urgent needs and require money as soon as possible to deal with immediate payments, providing an account number for the entry of the money. Won the confidence of the victim, with different excuses they try new income of money. In one of the cases investigated, the victim made two payments.
The investigations allowed to find out the destination of the money, and the follow-up of it, led to the now detained, all of them settled in Valencia.
Another five arrested by various cyberscams
Also in the Valencian Community (Valencia, Xátiva and Burriana) the Civil Guard Team @ Cantabria has carried out another five arrests of men between 18 and 25 years of age, for alleged scams, being the victims resident in Cantabria, suffering an economic loss of more than 16,000 euros.
In one of the cases, presumably on a simulated website (phising) for obtaining bank data or keys, 10,000 euros were stolen by bank transfers, finding out the destination of part of the money. In two other cases, by the method of false advertising, a vehicle and a mobile phone were paid, all valued at more than 4,000 euros, not receiving what was acquired and without response from the advertisers to the claims of the money.
Two people from Cantabria who announced for sale two motorcycles, agreed to pay for signals of 1,000 euros for each vehicle. These payments would be made by bizum, the alleged buyers making the inverse bizum, that is, instead of paying, they requested the payment from the sellers, thus losing the 2,000 euros.
Tips and recommendations
The Civil Guard reminds us that we must be wary of messages from unknown numbers, which claim to be children of the victims, to request money for urgent cases. Before making any transfers, they must verify whether the person communicating is truly your child, by calling your child’s actual number or the one you contacted via the messaging app. They can also ask questions that only your child can know the right answer. In all cases you should be wary of requests for urgent money transfers.
From the Civil Guard it is remembered not to enter or provide keys or bank details, before making any purchase of second-hand effects, doing so through secure channels and being able to check if the products really exist, and when making money transactions, carefully read the messages to check if it is received or otherwise they are asking for the money.
It is important that when a company detects a change of bank account for payment of regular invoices, it confirms it in a reliable way, such as, for example, by telephone contact. Likewise, when it is detected to be a victim of the scam, it must be reported so that the Civil Guard can try to block the money.