Spanish Authorities Conduct Three Rounds of Arrests on Mass-Marketing Fraud Schemes

For some time, law enforcement authorities in numerous countries have closely tracked the growth of mass-marketing fraud rings that use Spain as a base of operations for lottery fraud and investment fraud. In recent months, several operations that Spanish authorities have mounted against these rings provide significant indications of the scale and methods of these groups.


First, the Spanish National Police announced that on March 12-13, with assistance from the United States Secret Service and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, they arrested 23 individuals allegedly involved with a "Nigerian letter" scheme, as part of "Operacion Birte."  According to the National Police, the scheme sent thousands of letters each day to prospective victims, claiming that the recipients either were heirs to millions of dollars or had won a lottery.  Victims who responded were promised up to €75 million, but were told that they needed to pay various advance fees.  Victim losses reportedly ranged from €50,000 to €100,000 per victim, for total of about €2 million.  As part of the scheme, victims also were invited to travel to Madrid, where they were shown trunks supposedly containing the Euros they were to receive (a variation on the traditional "black money" scheme).  police also determined that the proceeds of the scheme were to be invested in building a three-story shopping center in Lagos, Nigeria.


In Operacion Birte, police arrested the 23 individuals in Madrid and in nine towns in the Madrid and Castilla la Mancha regions, conducted 12 searches in various locations, and seized numerous items, including three cars, 25 computers, cash, 90 cell phones and numerous phone cards, hundreds of names and addresses of U.S., U.K., and German residents, and substantial amounts of counterfeit Euros packed in a trunk.  The arrestees' nationalities included Spain, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Romania.


Second, the Guardia Civil announced on March 21 that in "Operation Magos," its Cybercrime Group had arrested eight individuals (six Nigerian, one Colombian, and One Spanish) in five towns in the Madrid region.  The arrests were in connection with a mass-marketing fraud scheme that targeted businessmen, offering them allegedly spurious business loans or investment opportunities.  As in the first scheme, victims were invited to come to Madrid and were shown trunks that purported to be filled with genuine currency, but were persuaded first to pay various taxes and fees.  Police estimated that the scheme had taken about €7 million from victims.  Searches conducted at the times of the arrests yielded more than 50 mobile telephones, fraudulent documentation, and hundreds of parcels wrapped in transparent film that were made to appear to contain $50 million.


Third, the Telegraph recently reported that Spanish police had "detained six people in Torrejon de Ardoz, near Madrid, and Malaga" for their alleged involvement in lottery fraud.  The scheme reportedly mailed out letters, principally to Italians, claiming that the recipients had won  €1 million but needed first to pay  €4,000 in administrative "fees."  Police stated that in 2012, nearly 500 victims (mainly Italians) lost money to the scheme, which directed the victims to send the money via bank or postal money transfers.


Police also reportedly seized 800 "Nigerian letters" ready for mailing, as well as 700 envelopes and   lists of possible victims.  In one search location in Torrejon de Ardoz, police stated that some members of the ring ""tried to flee through the window after flushing a large quantity of drugs down the toilet," and noted that "the network also trafficked narcotics."