A GANG who blackmailed website users looking to meet young women for sex has been brought down by the Policia Nacional.
13 people have been arrested in Sevilla and Valencia provinces with the police saying that over €350,000 had been extorted.
Officers seized 15 mobile phones, three computers and over 125 phone SIM cards from a home belonging to the organisation’s ring-leader who has been jailed.
The gang placed bogus ads posing as girls on sex contact online sites offering their services.
Potential clients were contacted via direct messages or by phone with the aim obtaining information about them.
After a few days, members of the criminal group phoned the men, posing as the girls’ boss and demanding large amounts of money for having wasted their time.
The ‘boss’ threatened to tell everything about a client’s secret interest to family members if he wasn’t paid.
A network of ‘mules’ was recruited via social networks to launder the cash in personal bank accounts which avoided any direct link to the gang.
Victims were given details of the accounts where they deposited the ‘hush money’ through Bizum or a direct transfer.
Once the money landed, it was immediately withdrawn and placed into bitcoin accounts or simply transferred elsewhere as well as being spent.
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