Four held over fake holiday rental scam

Guardia Civil officers have arrested four people after breaking up two groups accused of running fake rental advert scams aimed at holidaymakers and students.

The investigation linked the suspected fraud to Barcelona and Madrid, where police said the groups posted bogus listings for homes that did not exist or were not actually available to rent. The case has also been linked to Santa Coloma de Gramenet in the Barcelona area.

According to the Guardia Civil, victims were drawn in by adverts for holiday flats and accommodation for the academic year. When they contacted the advertisers, they were told there were other interested tenants, creating pressure to pay quickly.

Once the money had been transferred, the advertisers stopped replying and no rental contract was ever completed, investigators said.

How the scam worked

The force said the suspects increased the apparent credibility of the adverts by sending identity documents that did not match their real names. In some cases, those documents were said to have come from lost or stolen IDs, or from earlier fraud victims.

Police also traced the cash through bank accounts used by third parties, described by investigators as money mules who moved the funds on for a commission. Officers asked for those accounts to be frozen early in the probe in an effort to stop the money being withdrawn.

The inquiry began after several complaints from people who said they had paid deposits for accommodation that never materialised. The Guardia Civil said the analysis of messages, account activity and images supplied by victims helped identify the suspects.

Seven people identified

Investigators believe two separate criminal groups were using the same method in different parts of Spain. Officers from Navarra led the inquiry, with support from colleagues in Madrid and Barcelona.

In the end, police identified seven possible suspects and arrested four of them. The Guardia Civil said the operation has cleared up five fraud offences, one count of money laundering and one count of belonging to a criminal group.