The Guardia Civil in Alicante has arrested a man who is accused of defrauding at least ten people throughout mainland Spain
Two people reported the theft of their dog at the Aspe and Novelda Guardia Civil Posts, in Alicante, in June of this year. Based on these complaints, the specialised team against Robberies in the Field (ROCA) began the “Dogs Rescue” operation.
Both complainants had spread the request for help in locating them through social networks. Shortly after, a person contacted them telling them that he had seen the sale of his dog advertised online for 200 euros but that he did not have the money to pay for it and thus be able to rescue it and send it to his owners.
In this way, the victims, trusting in the goodwill of this person and desperate to recover their faithful friends, fell into the trap of making a transfer immediately. The scammer did not really know the whereabouts of these dogs, he was just taking advantage of the information he had gleaned from the owners’ “Wanted” ads.
Once he had the money in his possession, he contacted some of those affected again, mocking them for having fallen for the scam.
When the investigators managed to find out the identity of the alleged perpetrator of the scams, they found that in just a few weeks he had deceived at least eight other people in the provinces of Cádiz, Granada, León, Málaga, Seville and Tarragona.
Once the necessary information was collected, the agents travelled to the town of Ceutí, in Murcia, where they located and arrested the suspect, a 41-year-old man with a history of committing similar scams before. After the imputation of 10 crimes, the investigated proceedings were made available to the Court of Molina de Segura, in Murcia.
Two of the ten stolen dogs have already been located in the provinces of León and Cádiz. The agents, in collaboration with dog shelters in the area, continue with the investigation to try to locate the rest so that they can be returned to their owners.
For more information, you can contact the Peripheral Communication Office of the Alicante Civil Guard, on the phone 96 514 56 60, extension 0610012.
