A work-from-home job opportunity has uncovered an online property rental scheme spanning various parts of Spain. National Police in Alicante have arrested four people accused of participating in an organisation that offered homes for rent over the internet, defrauding 41 victims out of 52,968 euro.
The arrested individuals are two men and two women, aged between 28 and 32, who face alleged charges of fraud, money laundering, and membership in a criminal group. According to the investigation, the organisation was directed by a woman who coordinated both the fraudulent advertisements and the movement of the money obtained from her home.
The system combined two deceptions. On one hand, people interested in renting properties advertised on real estate portals were targeted. On the other hand, prospective workers were recruited who, without initially knowing the true purpose of their tasks, ended up providing their bank accounts to receive and withdraw the money from the frauds.
One key aspect of the investigation was a report filed by a woman who had received an offer via WhatsApp to work as a secretary from her home. Her duty apparently consisted of managing bookings for holiday flats and handling the corresponding payments.
However, the offer hid a very different activity. The alleged employer instructed her on the amounts she would receive in her bank accounts and ordered her to withdraw the cash, either at cash machines or directly over the counter. She then had to put the banknotes in an envelope and hand them to a person sent by her boss, who would either go to her home or meet her in an establishment in Alicante.
The woman began to suspect something was wrong when she was asked to open another bank account. It was then that she realised she might be used as a bank “mule”—an intermediary to move illicit funds. She decided to go to the National Police and report what had happened. Her testimony was incorporated into the enquiries that investigators had already initiated following various reports of fraudulent rentals.
The organisation published rental adverts on different internet platforms, particularly for properties located in Madrid and Marbella, two markets where high housing prices allowed them to demand significant amounts for bookings. Once the victims made the transfers, the money reached bank accounts opened by the people recruited through the fake job offers. These workers had to withdraw it and hand it over to intermediaries, who ensured it reached the person allegedly responsible for the organisation. In this way, the group tried to make tracing the funds more difficult and prevent transfers from leading directly to those directing the criminal activity.
Investigators confirmed that the network had developed a system to attempt to hide the identity of its members and complicate tracing the money. To communicate, they used phone SIM cards registered with incomplete or fictitious data that did not correspond to the real identity of their supposed holders.
Furthermore, the recruited individuals had to open accounts with a digital banking entity chosen by the organisation itself. This operated via a mobile application and had customer service points in partner establishments such as shops, call shops, bars, and lottery outlets. According to the National Police, these features facilitated the movement and withdrawal of funds without needing to visit conventional bank branches. Officers consider that the accounts were opened specifically to receive the fraud money, channel it, and subsequently withdraw it to conceal its origin.
Once those involved were identified and evidence gathered, the National Police launched the final phase of the operation. The first person arrested was the woman considered the intellectual author of the scheme, detained at the home from which she allegedly coordinated the activity. Officers searched the property and later arrested three other collaborators.
During the intervention, 1,470 euro was seized, an amount that investigators consider could originate from the criminal activity. The operation has resolved 41 alleged frauds committed against people in various parts of the peninsula, causing total financial losses of 52,968 euro.
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