This Mossos search engine brings together the 476 websites of the cryptocurrency scam that affected 17,000 Spaniards

As reported this Thursday by the Generalitat police, with the activation of this search engine on the Mossos website, the aim is to give citizens the necessary tools to prevent scams or to find out if they have been a victim of this transnational criminal network that perpetrated scams massive financial companies through these investigated websites.

Thus, from this Thursday, the Mossos website, in the Services and Procedures section, has this search engine to consult the list of fraudulent websites, although it warns citizens that the fact that a website is not on the list It does not mean that it is safe to invest in as it may not have been detected during the police investigation.

More than 17,000 people may have been victims in Spain of this international criminal network of cryptocurrency scams, which would have obtained benefits of 2,400 million euros. The modus operandi of the criminal organization was very specific: some false brokers They contacted potential victims from call centers located in Albania and other Eastern European countries, and pretended to have great knowledge of the world of finance, offering great benefits from small investments.

In reality, they were real scammers who tricked their victims through social engineering techniques into making investments in web platforms controlled by the criminal organization. The initial investments were 250 euros and, later, the false brokers informed the victim of supposedly great benefits, thereby gaining her confidence to deposit more money.

When the investor-victim wanted to withdraw all or part of the profits obtained, the scammer asked for more money to be able to withdraw the funds with different excuses, such as paying taxes or alleged system failures. In case of not getting more investment from the victim, the criminal organization accessed their personal bank information and emptied all their accounts.

During the investigation of this gang, the Mossos detected hundreds of fraudulent websites used by fraudsters to attract their victims, which citizens can now consult with this search engine. In the event that the website used by a person appears on this list, the Mossos advise going to a Catalan police station to file a complaint.

So far, the balance of the police device deployed on November 8 and 9 in Albania, in which some thirty agents of the Mossos and the Civil Guard participated, is six dismantled call centers and the arrest of the two highest responsible for the organization.