Spain’s National Police in Tenerife, together with the Vigilancia Aduanera – the Customs Surveillance Unit in Santa Cruz de Tenerife – have dismantled a criminal organisation suspected of defrauding more than 3,000 tourists of €8.39 million.
According to the EFE news agency in the Canary Islands, 3,221 holidaymakers in Tenerife fell victim to the scam, in an investigation that started back in June 2023.
The police confirmed this week that the criminal organisation had defrauded the holidaymakers in the popular tourist municipalities of Arona (main image) and Adeje covering Playa Las Americas and Los Cristianos, in the south of Tenerife.
The tourists were lured to various stores, where they made purchases and provided their personal information. According to the police, the gang used 17 different business names and ‘bazaars’, which appeared as conventional retail stores, but in fact were fronts for fraudulent activities, using card payment terminals to carry out unauthorised bank charges.
Victims were reportedly charged using data phones and then once the gang had collected personal and payment details, it used ‘advanced technology’ to process further fraudulent charges, creating false invoices to justify the illegal transactions in case of disputes.
According to reports, the gang targeted elderly tourists who visited the shops, just before they returned home to their own country. The victims only realised they had been scammed after leaving Spain, making it more difficult to take immediate action.
The number of people arrested or who were part of this organisation has not been disclosed. However, the police said that the owner of one of the businesses with the highest number of fraudulent transactions is missing, leading to an international arrest warrant being issued.
The Spanish police and Customs Surveillance unit have been working in cooperation with Europol and consulates of various affected countries to locate the victims.
Tourists who suspect they may have fallen victim to this fraud are encouraged to file a formal complaint, which could assist in the recovery of funds and strengthen legal action against those responsible.
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