TWO romance scammers have been arrested by the Policia Nacional and charged with defrauding victims across Europe of over €20,000.
The men, of Nigerian nationality, were detained in Benidorm and Pamplona.
The ruse involved setting up long-distance online relationships using bogus profiles.
After a period of time building up trust, the fraudsters then asked for money to cover expenses for a face-to-face meeting or urgent medical procedures.
Interpol in Dublin passed on a complaint from an Irish woman in September that she had been duped by a man via a social network.
She made two bank transfers into a Spanish bank account.
Policia Nacional cybercrime specialists found the bank account was accessed from IP addresses in Spain and Italy.
The account was in the name of a Nigerian man living in Barcelona.
They also discovered numerous deposits into the account made by victims in Spain.
The two fraudsters also moved amounts around various accounts via a well-known international money transfer company.
Using IP tracking , the men were tracked down and arrested.
They were part of a group that also operated out of Barcelona and Vitoria, along with other European countries including Ireland.
Police believe that a number of victims have not reported being scammed as they are too embarrassed to come forward.
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