The Alicante National Police have arrested three members of a criminal organization that operated throughout Spain as alleged perpetrators of numerous scams committed against vulnerable elderly people, usually women between 70 and 90 years old, selected in commercial establishments. known supermarket chainwhere they observed how they marked their card PIN number on the dataphones, then stole it and made cash withdrawals.
The investigation began around an operation that began following various complaints that followed the same pattern in terms of the profile of the victims and the sequence of events. Investigators quickly understood that it was possible that a traveling criminal group had settled in the province and was operating in the city of Alicante.
The members of the network have always acted in the same way, they have selected their victims from people aged between 70 and 90 years oldincluding many women, taking advantage of their vulnerable situation.
According to the investigation, the perpetrators of the plot were a man and a woman who, They acted in two phases in a perfectly coordinated manner and always in the same type of establishment: high-traffic supermarkets.
Thus, in the course of events, it was always observed how the two investigated persons entered the establishment in broad daylight and separately, wandering inside the premises among the customers to carefully select their victims, generally according to their age.
However, the most important indicator they took into account when making their choice was the volume of purchases made, carefully observing the baskets of the establishment’s customers.
In this way, they made a rough calculation of the value of the purchase, knowing that if it were greater than 50 euros and paid by card, it was necessary to enter the PIN code, this was the objective of the first phase of their project.
Then, once the victim was selected, they stood discreetly around her to observe the precise moment the number was dialed. card PIN codeso that, while one of the perpetrators, almost always a man, served as a screen to hide the action of his accomplice, the woman observed how the victim typed the numbers on the dataphone, which had nothing to do with the criminal action committed. what was happening was plotting around her.
As the officers confirmed during their investigations, the expertise of the person investigated was such that, even if he did not completely see the number that the victim dialed on the dataphone, the position of his fingers was enough for him to obtain it, which requires a high skill and training by members of the organization.
They then launched the second phase of their plan. The criminals followed the victims on foot from the establishment to the gates of their homes where, at the right time and with any stratagem, one of them would distract her while another he skillfully opened his bag steal the wallet that contained the card.
Finally, with the card and PIN code in your possessionThe perpetrators immediately made withdrawals from ATMs or went to gaming rooms, where the people investigated could make cash withdrawals as from ATMs, making payments with the victims’ cards.
Thus, between the last months of June and August, they committed up to nine criminal acts against people aged between 71 and 91, thanks to which they obtained loot. 24,845 eurosgoing so far as to plunder the account of one of the persons concerned of more than 6,000 euros.
With this data, the agents of the group specialized in economic crimes of the Provincial Police of Alicante, began the investigations into the actions of these two people.
A driver in charge of logistics
After a thorough investigation, they finally discovered the identity of the man and woman, as well as how they would travel from the city of Murcia. Cartagena, where they spent the night, they therefore set up a search operation which resulted in the arrest of the man and woman under investigation.
In addition to these two detainees, a third member of the criminal group was arrested, who would act as a driver, in addition to being in charge of carrying out logistics, such as renting accommodation.
The detainees, two men and a woman, of Romanian nationality, aged 20 to 27, accused of the crimes of fraud, falsification of documents and participation in a criminal organization, were placed at the disposal of the investigating court stationed in the same city of Cartagena.
