National
76 arrests in swoop on Internet fraud in Spain
By m.p.
Feb 10, 2008 - 1:55 PM

There have been 76 arrests across Spain in connection with Internet fraud in 14 of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities, as well as the Autonomous City of Ceuta. The only regions not affected were Extremadura, Murcia and La Rioja. Dubbed Operation Ulysses, it is the biggest of its type ever carried out in Spain, and it’s understood the total defrauded could be as much as 3 million €.

Forty seven of those in custody are Spanish, and the other nationalities range from Ukraine, Guinea, Romania, Russia and Morocco, as well as detainees from European countries and countries in South America.

Police say the methods used included online sales of goods which never arrived, and Internet banking fraud. El Mundo said the amounts stolen went from 400 to 10,000 €, and thousands of people could have lost money.

Investigations continue within Spain and abroad via Interpol and Europol.