Six people in Alicante lose 180,000€ in cryptocurrency scam

Six people residing in Alicante are among the victims of an alleged cryptocurrency investment scam attributed to four members of the same family, who are under investigation by the Guardia Civil in Cáceres. The victims from Alicante have collectively lost approximately 180,000€, according to the police investigation. All of them came from the same town in Cáceres province where the scheme originated.

The amount defrauded from the victims in Alicante represents a significant portion of a scam that, according to the Guardia Civil, is approaching 700,000€. In addition to the 180,000€ allegedly swindled from the six residents of the province, more than €500,000 was handed over by other victims residing in northern Cáceres.

The investigation began after one of the victims filed a complaint in September 2025 regarding events dating back to 2024. This individual had handed over a significant sum of money through several transfers for purported cryptocurrency investments. As the investigation progressed, agents located additional victims and discovered that the recipient of the money used bank accounts linked to various members of the group. He also possessed more than 90 bank cards from different institutions to receive and transfer the funds.

According to the Guardia Civil, one of the suspects took advantage of the trust of residents in a town in northern Cáceres. After receiving the money, he pretended that the investments had been made and showed the victims bank statements, photographs, and videos of supposed profits. Some of these documents reflected earnings exceeding one million euro.

The scam did not end with the first payment. When the victims tried to get their money back, the alleged perpetrators demanded further payments, claiming they were necessary to unlock the accounts and collect the profits. To give these demands an appearance of legality, they allegedly used the names of various law firms without authorisation and falsified documents.

The suspects also travelled internationally and organised large events, which they then publicised among their acquaintances. According to investigators, the aim was to project an image of financial success and make the victims believe that this lifestyle stemmed from profits earned through their own cryptocurrency investments. The Guardia Civil report even highlights that one of the victims went so far as to transfer 170,000€ in a single payment, a sign of the trust the alleged perpetrators had managed to gain among those affected.

Four members of a family have been investigated, including three men and one woman, for this fraud, alleging the crimes of fraud, misappropriation, forgery, identity theft, money laundering, and membership in a criminal organisation. The case has been referred to the competent judicial authority, and the four individuals under investigation are awaiting trial.