The men posed as bank employees, manipulating victims into transferring large sums of money to Portugal
PJ police, in collaboration with Europol and Spanish authorities, have arrested three Spanish men living in the Algarve who are suspected of crimes of fraud and laundering over €2.5 million.
The arrests made in the Algarve are part of the ‘Phantom’ operation, which has led to the arrest of 54 people in the Iberian Peninsula. In Portugal, 13 home searches were carried out and 14 suspects identified.
The investigation, led by the Faro Public Prosecutor’s Office, focuses on a group suspected of using social engineering – a term used to describe all techniques aimed at talking a target into revealing specific information or performing a specific action for illegitimate reasons – to commit fraud and launder money.
According to PJ police, the suspected criminals posed as bank employees, manipulating victims through telephone calls into transferring large sums of money and other assets to Portugal. They would then launder the money using “money mules” – in other words, someone who transfers or moves illegally acquired money on behalf of someone else.
The operation also led to the confiscation of “significant evidence,” such as computers, mobile phones, SIM cards and drugs.
The suspects, aged between 25 to 31, appeared before the Évora Court of Appeal and are being held in custody pending extradition.
