Events in Extremadura: Three detainees, one of them from Badajoz, for ‘hackstorsion’

Three people, one of them from Badajoz, have been arrested accused of various crimes committed through ‘hackstorsion’. They operated from the provinces of Badajoz, Córdoba and León offering different sophisticated hacking services such as spying on social networks or emails, eliminating fines or debts with the Tax Agency, changing university grades or recording degrees not taken and later the clients themselves were who were victims of fraud and extortion, since the detainees threatened to reveal contents of their private or intimate sphere.

Three people have been arrested and two others have been charged with crimes of fraud, extortion, revelation of secrets, money laundering and criminal organization. The agents detected and analyzed more than 12,000 misleading advertisements, associated with more than 40 phone numbers, more than 200 email accounts and almost 1,300 IP addresses.

The investigation began during a device established by agents of the Central Cybercrime Unit in order to detect and act against new criminal forms committed through the network. In the first place, they recruited, by editing, inserting, publishing and managing advertisements, offering ‘computer hacker’ services, and then attending to the requests of the interested parties, especially through instant messaging. They offered commitment and technical capacity to fulfill the orders and demanded payment in advance of the agreed amount, either in full or at least in part.

Subsequently, under the pretext of fulfilling the entrusted task, sensitive data was requested, taking advantage of the alleged perpetrators that there was a written record when it was done through chat or exchange of messages. After sending the agreed amount – via bank transfer, cash deposits, at an ATM or through mobile applications – the alleged perpetrators interrupted contact with the client, failing to comply with the agreement without providing any reason.

In some assignments, especially those in which it was requested to spy on the couple’s messaging account or social network, the contact was not interrupted and the false hacker asked the client for new amounts of money under the threat of revealing the job for which he was hired. hired. They had screenshots and despite the payment of the required amounts, new amounts were demanded.

Once the victim refused to make further payments, the alleged perpetrators carried out their threat and contacted the party they intended to spy on, obtaining new amounts by offering the private content of the conversations held and sensitive, private or intimate data. .

The existence of more than one hundred Spanish bank accounts and many others abroad have been known, which once analyzed have established that it was an organized criminal group, which until now, the researchers estimate that they have been able to profit from amounts over 300,000 euros and have detected the existence of hundreds of victims.

Searches and arrests

After a year of analysis of the information collected, three homes of those investigated in the provinces of León, Córdoba and Badajoz were entered and registered, in which they have been intervened: 5 mobile telephone terminals, 12 telephone terminals , 1 hard drive, 5 pen drives, 28 SIM cards and various bank material; containing information related to the practice of the investigated facts.

Likewise, the arrest of two of those investigated was carried out at their homes in León and Badajoz, and a third arrest, of the main investigated, took place days later at the Madrid Barajas airport, after landing in national territory from the Philippines. One of those investigated was already in prison for other events, and the last one investigated in Seville was heard in a statement as an investigator after which she was released.

The investigation remains open pending the analysis of the material intervened during the searches and the appearance of new victims is not ruled out.