12 people have been arrested in Greater Porto on suspicion of scamming hundreds of foreigners in a fictitious rental scheme, in which, posing as property owners, they requested a deposit that could reach 2,400 euros.
At a press conference on Wednesday 21st February, PSP commissioner João Soeima said that the scam involved renting out local accommodation for a few days and simultaneously placing an advert for "medium or long-term" rentals.
Once they had access to the house, the suspects, who used false names, posed as the owners of the property, even showing it to the victims who were pressured to sign the lease quickly and to sign the deal with a deposit worth two to four months' rent, something between 1,600 and 2,400 euros.
More than 200 people scammed
The group targeted by the investigation had as its “preferential target foreign citizens who travelled to Portugal with the intention of working, mainly, and studying”. Coming from Latin America and Africa, the victims were faced, in some cases, with social emergency situations, and it was even necessary to contact Social Security, said the commissioner.
The victims would only realise they were being scammed when the real owner of the property demanded that the house be vacated. In some cases, the suspects also stole household appliances and other objects from the properties.
According to the PSP, the investigation resulted in what is known as Operation Ghost Rent, with the execution of 22 house searches, 2 non-house searches and the arrest of 12 people (3 men and 9 women), aged between 21 and 53, began 6 months ago and more than 200 situations have already been identified.
Following the police operation, 20 mobile phones and some computers used to access the digital networks where the houses were falsely advertised were also seized, as well as a wide range of documentation, including bank information, "both in the names of the suspects and in the names of third parties who were used to prepare and execute the false rental contracts" and "hide the proceeds of the illegal activity".
Although the scope of the police operation intervention was restricted to the activity of this group in the Greater Porto area, João Soeima added that there are other situations identified outside this geographical area, with the operation in question being at a national level.
The scheme has already generated 250 thousand euros
“Right now we have recorded approximately 243 thousand euros, but every week, from the moment we identify the real perpetrators who used false names, we are able to discover more and more crimes (…) an average of 10 to 15 new crimes”, he indicated. to journalists.
Also according to the PSP, 3 of the suspects in the group, made up of more than 13 members, share degrees of kinship or marital ties and another of the suspects already has a record.
98 members of the PSP were involved in the police operation, as well as the Rapid Intervention teams of the Porto Metropolitan Command and the Special Police Unit team.
In a context of general prevention, the PSP advises citizens who want to rent a house to look for small signs that can help identify a suspicious situation, namely the existence of codes to enter the house, a method widely used in local accommodation, the presence of towels or spare bedding or a manual for using the equipment.
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