Spanish law enforcement has successfully taken down a sprawling investment fraud operation that lured hundreds of victims into depositing funds through fake cryptocurrency and financial services. The criminal network—operating since 2022—caused over €10 million in losses across Spain.
The large-scale bust was carried out through synchronized raids in Barcelona, Madrid, Mallorca, and Alicante, leading to the arrest of 21 individuals and the seizure of seven luxury cars and over €1.3 million in cash and cryptocurrency.
A Sophisticated Network Masquerading as Financial Advisors
According to Spain’s Mossos d’Esquadra and Civil Guard, the operation was run by an organized group that posed as financial experts. Victims were contacted through fake social media ads, directed to convincing investment websites, and even called by operatives in phony call centers impersonating legitimate brokers.
“They persuaded their victims to make fake investments through a network of fake advisors and experts, manipulated websites, and telephone call centers,” said police.
The group built trust by promoting investments in well-known companies and cryptocurrencies, offering phony dashboards with fake profit visuals. Victims were even allowed small initial withdrawals to avoid suspicion.
Once victims made larger investments, the fraud escalated. Access to funds was suddenly blocked, and scammers introduced fabricated “processing fees” or “clearance taxes” to keep draining the victims under the pretense of returning their funds.
Pig Butchering Meets Investment Fraud
The scam closely resembled pig butchering schemes, where victims are gradually manipulated through fake platforms, fabricated endorsements, and high-pressure sales tactics. Many of the investment offers appeared as high-return opportunities in cryptocurrency, tech stocks, forex, or gold markets.
The group operated call centers rented in Barcelona for short durations—three to four months at a time—to evade long-term detection. These centers were equipped with “panic buttons” capable of instantly shutting down all systems during a police raid.
This level of infrastructure inside Spain is rare. Most fraud operations of this type are typically coordinated from regions with looser enforcement, such as Eastern Europe or Southeast Asia.
Part of a Larger Wave of Sophisticated Investment Scams
This is not the first major takedown in Spain this year. Just a week earlier, Spanish authorities dismantled a €460 million cryptocurrency investment ring that had defrauded more than 5,000 victims globally. In April 2025, six individuals were arrested for using AI-generated investment ads to lure victims into handing over €19 million ($20.9 million) in fraudulent schemes.
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