Three people in Valencia, all said to be Romanian citizens, have been arrested by the National Police in connection with a holiday rentals scam that affected more than 1,500 people who had made bookings. Those affected were foreign and national tourists, and it is calculated that the scam netted over three million euros.
Investigations started in May when a bank informed the police that there were "irregularities" with several accounts. The police discovered that accounts had been opened using false identities and that payments, apparently for holiday rentals reservations, had been made by transfer into these accounts.
The scam was a familiar one in that photos were copied from websites and made to appear to be holiday rental accommodation on websites set up to con people, who were provided with bank account details in order to make transfers. Once deposits were made, all contact with the victims ended. Cash was withdrawn from ATMs, and one of the three people arrested was in charge of this part of the operation.
Specific details regarding the locations for this scam have yet to be released. The investigation is ongoing, one aspect of this being an anticipation that there will be more victims.