A 53-year-old Spanish man was arrested by the National Police in Palma on Wednesday in connection with having swindled what could amount to over 100,000 euros from various women.
He was making contact with women via dating websites and using false identities and photos of young and attractive men; these included men who had been on television programmes.
He offered a lasting relationship and a better life to the women who succumbed to his charms. In each instance he used a different scenario. These ranged from his need to obtain money to get out of prison to his being an influential person in the Balearics and an aerospace engineer. The victims were targeted when he detected that they might be lacking something in their lives.
He could solve this, but to be able to do so, there needed to be bank transfers of money. As soon as the money was received, he broke off the relationship.
The investigation started in Salamanca (Castile and Leon), where a victim reported what had happened to the National Police. This led to confirmation that the alleged fraudster was resident in Palma. The police are currently acting on the basis of six reports but suspect that the number could rise.