After deceiving clients interested in staying in Pirenópolis (GO), a tourist destination on the outskirts of the Federal District, the criminals of the “fake posada” gang mocked the victims who were looking for the scammers to obtain satisfaction. When questioned, the criminals tried to scare the injured clients, sending them photographs of prisoners in the cells, with a marijuana cigarette in their hands. “We are here, the truth is that it is easy,” they stated. The image, however, is old and has been circulating on social networks since at least 2019.
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Beautician Yasmin Izabel, 25, says she discovered the alleged pose on Instagram while planning a wedding anniversary trip with her husband. Like many other victims, she was deceived by her profile on the social network with a large number of followers and by the “professional” attitude of the scammers during negotiations through a messaging application.
“[A página administrada pelos golpistas] They had realistic posts and a lot of followers, and through WhatsApp they answered all my questions and got back to me very quickly. So I thought everything was ‘fine’, but nine days before the reservation date they didn’t respond to me and I thought ‘since it must be raining, they must not have internet,’” recalls the DF resident.
The woman then became aware of the scam when she went to look for another way to contact her through the supposed inn’s website. In the online address he realized that the location really existed, but that neither the WhatsApp number nor the Instagram page were the same as the ones he had negotiated with.
“So I asked my husband to message the ‘inn’ and try to make a reservation for the same day. When they told me that there was a vacancy for the date I had chosen, I realized that we had fallen into a scam,” he concludes.
Yasmin filed a police report with the Civil Police of the Federal District (PCDF) and attempted to contact both banks involved in the transfer made through Pix, but without success in recovering the daily fees. And when he decided to seek satisfaction from scammers through his profile on social networks, he was the target of the criminals’ ironies.
“I don’t even know if the photo is real, but I think they sent it to me to scare me and prevent me from trying to take any action, since they ‘would already be inside’,” adds Yasmin.
In total, the PCDF arrested three fraudsters. Two suspects were the subject of arrest warrants served during the operation this Wednesday (11/13), in Goiânia (GO). A third embezzler had been arrested last Friday (8/11).
Fake inn scam
The gang specialized in the “false inn” scam was the target of a PCDF operation, launched this Wednesday (11/13). The scammers maintained pages on social networks with the names of real inns in the city of Pirenópolis (GO), a region of high demand in the federal capital.
The criminals used constant and apparently realistic publications, sponsored posts and a large number of followers to attract victims, who did not suspect that they were falling for a scam. The owners of the inns used as decoys for the scams have no connection to the criminal scheme, according to the PCDF.
To ensure quick collections and make it difficult for victims to attempt to recover amounts, the scammers’ latest strategy was to offer discounts ranging from 10% to 20% of the daily rate for payments through Pix.
“When they talked about the discount, I immediately made the transfer. And when I finally contacted them again [e percebeu ter sido vítima de golpe] It was too late to try to return the amount,” adds Lindomar.
As determined by the report, to receive the amounts, the fraudsters used digital bank accounts, registered with CNPJ numbers registered in Maranhão, Goiás, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Ceará. According to the scammers themselves, the accounts would be created without the knowledge of those involved.
In addition to the arrest warrants, police executed three warrants to search and seize the suspects’ homes. The measures were authorized by the judge of the Criminal Court and the Brazilian Jury Court.
