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More than 100 arrested in Spain in $900k WhatsApp scheme


To trick their victims, the scammers posed as a family member — typically a son — in some distressing situation requiring urgent financial help, Spanish police said.

According to a statement by the Guardia Civil, one of Spain's police forces, the suspects — men and women aged between 20 and 60 — were arrested from February to April in seven Spanish provinces. To trick their victims, the scammers contacted them on WhatsApp posing as a family member, typically a son, in some distressing situation requiring urgent financial help. Earlier in January, local police arrested 59 members of a criminal gang that stole over €460,000 ($490,000) by convincing families that their children, often students abroad, were in trouble and urgently needed the money.

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