The operation began in May, when officers from the Armilla station in Granada identified a vehicle during a public security operation. They found a large amount of credit agreement documentation, checkbooks and invoices containing third parties' personal data in the trunk. After contacting the people whose details appeared on the documents, officers confirmed that all of them had allegedly been defrauded by the driver, prompting them to seize all the documentation.
The alleged offender's modus operandi consisted of presenting himself to victims as a salesperson for various companies, "with a polite, proper and well-dressed appearance," the Civil Guard said in a statement. In this way, he gained the victims' trust, allowing him to enter their homes without difficulty. Once inside, he obtained personal data, banking documents, pension certificates and signatures, which he used to arrange credit agreements, purchase mobile phones or finance vehicles without the victims' knowledge.
In some cases, the fake salesperson returned to the homes, claiming there had been supposed errors in the financing, and persuaded victims to make cash payments, transfers or charges through a portable POS terminal to supposedly cancel the transactions, causing them a double financial loss. In other cases, he signed the documents himself, taking advantage of the victims' vulnerability and fear of suffering greater harm to prolong the deception and carry out further transactions using their details.
During the investigation, the Armilla Civil Guard determined that more than 40 people had fallen victim to the scam in six Andalusian provinces (Almeria, Jaen, Granada, Seville, Malaga and Cordoba). The alleged offender is also believed to have acquired two high-end mobile phones, two large-engine motorcycles and a car. Some of the vehicles were allegedly sold to third parties. In fact, one of them has been placed at the disposal of the courts for an alleged receiving stolen property offense, and further arrests have not been ruled out.
As a result, the Civil Guard, with the support of the local police forces in Granada and Peligros, arrested the alleged offender. During a search of his home, officers also seized one of the motorcycles reported as having been obtained through fraud, the vehicle he was driving—allegedly acquired using a victim's documents—as well as more than 1,000 euros in cash and a portable POS terminal.
Various banking documents, financing agreements and other items directly related to the investigation were also seized, including a car rental document in the name of a deceased person. The detainee appeared before Granada's duty court, which ordered his remand in custody.
