A man was arrested by National Police in Malaga for fraud. He allegedly supplanted the email address of the Spanish Basketball Federation to divert an American transfer. This was in connection with a match between the Spanish and American teams.
According to a statement from the provincial police station, the 63-year old man, who is the owner of a bank account in Malaga’s capital, received 143 432 dollars (about 138,000 euro) and managed to recover 91 490 euros. .
After the FEB complaint was filed at the Chamartin National Police Station in Madrid (November 2021), the investigation began. It was stated that after the celebration of the meeting between the American and Spanish basketball teams, they should have received the agreed amount from the American Federation.
After a thorough investigation, it was found that the FEB’s address was supplanted by social engineering data collection. The FEB was then contacted by the American Federation to inform them of a change in their bank account and where the payment should be made. This scam is known as “Man in the middle”.
Agents discovered that the office receiving the payment was in Malaga. From that point on, coordination was required with Group I of Economic Crimes of Provincial Police Station of Andalusian.
After contacting the bank branch, agents confirmed that a total amount of 143 432 dollars had been transferred to the account. They also observed that money had been taken from the account, resulting in a loss of 91 490 euros. To prevent any future movements or intervention, the account was blocked.
Investigators located the account holder and took him into custody on June 15. The history was the same. The Investigating Court number 11 in Madrid was able to place the arrested and the instructed officer.