National Police officers have arrested a woman in Orihuela after she reported fraudulent movements in a bank account in her name, but from which it was proven that she had benefited from. Officers claim the woman has been acting as a ‘ money mule’ for alleged scams committed on the internet and resulting in a profit of more than 8,000 euros.
The investigation began in May, when the arrested woman filed a complaint as a victim of fraud, stating that in April she had opened a bank account which was then subject to a series of bank movements that could be fraudulent. She also claimed that the bank card linked to the account had been lost with the PIN number written on it.
The investigations were carried out by officers from Orihuela Police Station, who discovered signs that the complaint was possibly false and that the supposed victim wanted to hide other facts and actions connected to the account.
After analyzing all the information received from the bank, they were able to verify, firstly, that the account reflected more than 40 movements between income, transfers, charges, withdrawals and other cash movements, for a total of 8,239 euros. These banking movements came from different places around the country, such as Madrid, Huelva, Seville, Valencia, Barcelona, Cádiz, Vizcaya, Córdoba and Alicante. Once received, the money had then been transferred to two other accounts. Officers then focused the investigation on these two accounts, which were registered in the lady’s name and linked to an internet advertisement. This in turn led officers to discover a criminal scheme that offered quick money personal loans and credit on web pages, aimed at people in financial difficulties.
It was also discovered, that the ‘money mule’ was already being investigated by a Court in Seville, as the alleged perpetrator of a crime of fraud, as a member of an international criminal network where she acted as a ‘money mule’ receiving cash income in her accounts that she would then transfer to others, taking a percentage which could range between 10 percent and 20 percent of the amounts received. Officers believe that, the detainee was forced to file a complaint when she realised that she was being investigated by various police units.
The arrested woman, a 45-year-old of Spanish nationality, born in Colombia, was released after giving a statement at the police station, pending a summons to appear in court.
Police have warned the public about using quick money schemes advertised on the internet and have requested that anyone who feels they have been subjected to a scam of any nature report it to their local police station.