A multi-national group, dismantled yesterday by the Judiciary Police (PJ), is suspected of having defrauded around 5,100 Swedish citizens from Portugal since 2023.
At a press conference, the director of the National Unit to Combat Cybercrime and Technological Crime (UNC3T) of the PJ, Carlos Cabreiro, explained that the victims, most of whom were elderly, had been tricked with messages that appeared to be from banking services.
The affected citizens would end up, after speaking with fake bank managers, providing access credentials to their bank accounts and, in some cases, remote access to computers where they accessed their financial services, allowing the scammers to steal their money.
In total, the organization will have made profits of around 14 million euros.
In a statement, the PJ say they have arrested 65 people based in the Algarve, who were allegedly linked to this group.
According to Carlos Cabreiro, among those arrested in Operation 'Pivot' are three Swedish citizens, all men, who would constitute the hard core of the organization and dozens of Portuguese and nationals of other countries residing in Portugal, who are involved in the group. These include people posing as bank managers, money mule recruiters - who typically provide accounts to launder illicitly obtained money - and merchants who provide automatic payment terminals in their establishments, so that fraudsters can access the funds.
The purchase of "jewelry, watches and vehicles" was another way the group laundered the profits from the scams.
Of the 65 detainees, between 25 and 30 individuals will be presented to a judge for the application of more severe coercive measures, the final number depending on the investigations being carried out by the Public Prosecutor's Office, added the director of UNC3T.
Yesterday, 76 bank accounts and 11 cryptocurrency wallets were also seized.
When asked whether the choice of Portugal as the basis for the crime was due to some national vulnerability, Carlos Cabreiro replied that it was not.
The Swedish police officer who worked most closely with the PJ, Johan Sangby, stressed that Sweden has "many criminals" operating from abroad, with Portugal and Spain being "good countries" to live in and appearing to be "a safe haven for criminals."
In the note released today, the PJ specified that the crimes at stake include computer crimes, qualified fraud and money laundering.
The joint investigation between the PJ and the Swedish police involved the collaboration of Europol and Eurojust, which today monitored searches carried out at 73 homes, mainly in the Algarve, Lisbon and the Braga region.
According to the director of UNC3T, the dismantled group was "probably" preparing to also target Portuguese citizens in scams.
