SPAIN’S National Court has convicted and jailed a scammer for defrauding 732 people around the country via bogus online shopping sites.
Jordi Arias- nicknamed Lupin after the famous fictional French criminal- pocketed over €667,000 along with three associates who were also convicted.
He has been branded as Spain’s ‘biggest’ cyber-fraudster.
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The scammer, 29, was given a two year and eight month prison term for fraud, after initially facing eight years behind bars for crimes committed in 2018 and 2019.
The longer sentence was reduced following a plea bargain deal.
Arias was fined just €1,440 and barred from running any online shopping sites for five years.
He also has to compensate, along with his convicted colleagues, the 732 hood-winked victims.
Jordi Arias created a complex cyber network with the specific aim of committing mass fraud.
With the help of his cohorts, he created multiple fake websites that imitated genuine retailers selling electronics, video games or household appliances.
Buyers accessing the bogus portals paid for item through bank transfers, Bizum or credit cards to accounts that the gang opened by using stolen identities of third parties.
Purchasers never received the items that were misled into paying for.
The latest conviction for Arias adds to his docket as a Ponferrada court in 2024 handed down a 10-month prison term for similar scams dating back to 2017.
Another probe was carried out by the Policia Nacional on behalf of a court in Aragon.
The fraud totalled €551,000 with 660 scams including fake websites, unauthorised ATM withdrawals and impersonating customers via online banking.
A female victim lost €72,000 as her personal details were hijacked to obtain a €60,000 bank loan and €12,000 was withdrawn from her account.
As of 2024, over 400 complaints had been filed against Jordi Arias.
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