A person has been arrested for defrauding more than 27.000 euros in Santa Lucía de Tirajana.

 

The Civil Guard of Vecindario has concluded an operation that has resulted in the arrest of a person as the alleged perpetrator of the crimes of bank fraud, discovery and disclosure of secrets and usurpation of civil status.

 

 

The events began with a complaint filed at the main Civil Guard station, where an elderly person reported detecting a series of unauthorized bank transfers from their checking account to an online bank, initially exceeding €22.000. Following further inquiries with their usual financial institution, the total amount of the financial loss rose to over €27.000.

 

The investigation focused on a residence in the town of Santa Lucía de Tirajana, which was also the victim's home. According to the investigation, the criminal modus operandi revealed technical expertise and a deep understanding of the victim's routines.

 

The perpetrator, taking advantage of the fact that they were temporarily living with the victim, a vulnerable individual due to their health condition and use of anti-anxiety medication, accessed the victim's mobile phone while they slept. Meticulously, they used the victim's fingerprint to bypass the biometric security system and carry out multiple fraudulent transfers through online banking.

 

The Civil Guard's investigative unit focused on analyzing bank transactions, using the digital trail of transfers as a key line of inquiry. This allowed them to identify a person close to the victim as the account holder. Agents also confirmed that the detainee had manipulated the victim's phone to delete notifications and messages from the bank, thus preventing the crime from being discovered early on.

 

 

After establishing the technical connection and identifying the perpetrator, officers located and arrested the suspect at a property in a nearby town. During the operation, they seized over €18.500 in cash found at the location and froze balances in two bank accounts.

 

The proceedings have been made available to the Instruction Section of the Court of First Instance of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, where the police report has been sent along with the recovered items.

 

This case highlights the danger of new crimes committed in the digital environment, where the perpetrator's technical expertise lies not only in computer knowledge, but also in exploiting physical security systems, such as biometrics, to commit illegal acts.

 

The exploitation of trust and the victim's vulnerability exacerbates the consequences of this crime, causing damage that transcends the economic aspect to reach the emotional and psychological level, resulting in a traumatic rupture of family protection ties.

 

At a social level, these types of scams generate deep alarm in the community, especially among the elderly, who are exposed to a lack of protection against technologies that, although designed for their safety, are used against them.

 

The work of the Civil Guard in this area not only seeks the restitution of property, but also to guarantee citizen security against aggressors who operate from the most intimate environment, reinforcing the trust of citizens in the institutions specialized in the fight against cybercrime and the protection of the most vulnerable.