Spanish police have arrested two Irish men suspected of being involved in a well-known scam operating in a busy tourist area.
The pair were detained last week on the Costa Brava and are believed to have tricked a local resident out of thousands of euro in what has become widely known across Europe as the Irish scam, reports The Mirror.
The two suspects were allegedly part of a seven-member gang who are said to have threatened and pressured the victim in an attempt to force him to hand over large sums of money for work he never requested, even blocking him inside his home until he paid.
Police are now warning homeowners in the area to remain vigilant for other fraudsters carrying out similar scams, reports The Mirror.
These types of criminals are believed to be travelling across Europe carrying out the scheme and making large profits.
The gang is thought to include individuals from Ireland, England and other European countries, although authorities commonly refer to the operation as the “Irish scam”, reports The Mirror.
Sources say the group is believed to be running three main scams and making significant amounts of money from them every week.
In the first scheme, the fraudsters pretend to be contractors working on tarmac projects for local authorities and approach residents door-to-door, reports The Mirror.
They tell homeowners they have leftover tarmac from the job and offer to resurface their driveway for a discounted price.
However, the work is carried out poorly and the newly laid tarmac often begins cracking within days, by which time the scammers have already moved on from the area, reports The Mirror.
Another scam involves gang members knocking on doors and claiming they have noticed minor problems with the outside of a house, offering to fix them for a low fee.
Once the homeowner agrees and the work starts, the scammers claim to discover more serious issues and then demand extremely high payments for additional repairs, reports The Mirror.
A third scheme sees the gang targeting people directly on the street.
In several European countries in recent years, police have reported incidents where Irish men approach passers-by asking for help, often claiming their car has been broken into, reports The Mirror.
They say they urgently need cash for repairs and ask the person to withdraw money on their behalf.
They then show what appears to be a banking app on their phone and promise to transfer the money into the person’s account in return for the cash, reports The Mirror.
But the banking app shown is fake and the scammers disappear with the money.
The most recent reported incident occurred in the town of Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava, a popular tourist destination where up to 200,000 Irish holidaymakers visit each year, reports The Mirror.
According to reports in Spain, a local man was approached by seven men who claimed they were carrying out tarmac work in the area and offered to do work at his home.
He agreed to a certain amount of work on his driveway for a set price and the men began the job, reports The Mirror.
However, they then started laying tarmac over a much larger area than had been agreed.
They later demanded additional payment for the extra work that the homeowner had never requested, reports The Mirror.
When he refused to pay, the gang allegedly parked their van in a way that blocked him inside his house and said they would not move it unless he paid the money.
The frightened homeowner contacted the local police force, known as the Mossos d’Esquadra, reports The Mirror.
Officers arrived at the scene and arrested two alleged leaders of the group, both Irish nationals. They discovered more than €6,000 in cash in their possession and investigators believe there may be another victim in the area.
Both men were later released but remain under formal investigation, reports The Mirror.
The Mossos d’Esquadra has advised anyone in the area who believes they may be targeted by scammers to contact police immediately.
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