Four-year-long online romance scam: couple defrauds Chiclana resident of over 37,000 euros

Zoom

The Guardia Civil's specialist cybercrime team, 'Equipo Arroba', followed the money sent by the victim in Cadiz province, subsequently identifying the suspects, who were living in another Andalusian province

Miren Landeta

Cadiz

Monday, 20 April 2026, 15:29

What began as a supposed love story ended up becoming a scam worth more than 37,000 euros . The Guardia Civil in Cadiz, through the Chiclana branch of the Equipo Arroba cybercimes unit, has investigated a couple residing in El Ejido (Almeria) for their alleged involvement in a fraud known as a 'romance scam' , based on simulating a romantic relationship online with the chosen victim in order to extort money from them.

According to the Guardia Civil, the suspects lured the victim in 2022 via social media and dating apps, where they began a relationship that lasted for four years before the victim grew suspicious and reported it as a possible crime.

Fake online romancing

During this period, the victim believed they were in a genuine, romantic relationship. However, they never met their supposed partner in person, neither did they ever make any phone or video calls. Contact was limited to text exchanges via messaging apps.

The deception relied on the creation of fake profiles with attractive images and maintaining a constant strategy of emotional manipulation. The alleged perpetrators gained the victim's trust through constant messages of affection, forging a "very strong" bond that facilitated the next step: requests for money.

Excuses to defraud

To advance with the scam, they used various excuses, such as serious medical emergencies, family financial problems or alleged trips from Morocco for meetings that never took place. Under these pretexts, the victim made multiple money transfers.

Money was sent via Bizum and international money-transfer platforms such as Moneygram, Moneytrans and Taptap Send, resulting in financial losses exceeding 37,000 euros, in addition to the emotional distress caused by such deception.

The investigation began after the victim filed a report with the Guardia Civil. From there, officers began tracing the money's final destination, requesting information from the various platforms involved.

The fraudsters: a couple from El Ejido

The investigation identified two people, residents of El Ejido, as the beneficiaries of these payments. According to the investigation's findings, this couple has previous convictions for similar offences related to fraud and property crimes.

Finally, officers from Chiclana's cybercrime team managed to locate and investigate both individuals as alleged perpetrators of online fraud. The investigation remains open and further action on this case is not ruled out.