A 69-year-old woman has lost 94,018 euro after being deceived by the well-known “daughter in distress” scam, a type of cyberfraud where criminals pose as a relative to urgently demand money. The investigation has identified 11 people involved and led to five arrests in Valladolid, Vigo, Alicante, Lloret de Mar and Parla.
The victim received several WhatsApp messages in April last year from a person posing as her daughter. In the conversation, the fraudsters claimed they were writing from a new mobile telephone number because their usual one was broken, and alleged an urgent financial problem that required immediate transfers.
The woman believed the story and made five bank transfers to accounts controlled by the criminals. Three of them were for 9.897 euro each, another for 34,327 euro and a final one for 30,000 euro, reaching a total defrauded amount of 94,018 euro.
The role of bank mules
The investigation determined that the identified individuals allegedly acted as bank mules within the network. This role consists of receiving, moving or hiding money originating from illicit activities, sometimes through their own accounts or accounts opened using their personal details.
Although those under investigation did not participate in the initial design of the scam, officers consider them active collaborators and necessary co-operators. Without their intervention, the money could not have been channelled to other accounts, some of which are located in France and the United Kingdom.
The investigation was carried out by the Cybercrime Group of Valladolid and transferred to different police headquarters due to the residence of those involved in different parts of Spain. In the case of Alicante, the arrest was carried out by the Economic and Financial Crime Group of the Judicial Police Bureau of the Provincial Police Station.
How to avoid the “daughter in distress” scam
This type of fraud relies on urgency and the emotional weight of the message. The criminals pressure the victim to act quickly, without checking if they are actually speaking to their relative.
Because of this, the National Police remind people of the importance of always contacting the usual number of the person who is supposedly asking for help. They also recommend being suspicious when a message demands an immediate transfer and confirming the identity with specific questions that only that relative could answer.
In the event of having made a transfer or suspecting that one has been a victim of this fraud, the recommendation is to report it as soon as possible and provide all the messages, bank receipts and telephone numbers used in the conversation.
