{
  "id": 1917998,
  "title": "The fake Guardia Civil officer who fooled three women into handing over €135,000",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/the-fake-guardia-civil-officer-who-fooled-three-women-into-handing",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-19T11:08:34.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Euro Weekly News",
    "slug": "euro-weekly-news",
    "url": "https://euroweeklynews.com/2026/08/19/the-fake-guardia-civil-officer-who-fooled-three-women-into-handing-over-e135000/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A man in Madrid fooled three women into giving him more than €135,000 by posing as a corrupt Guardia Civil officer. The 53-year-old suspect used a backpack with the Guardia Civil emblem, photographs of himself in uniform, and an imitation badge to convince the women he was a real, albeit unethical, police officer. He built personal relationships with each of the women through Facebook before revealing his supposed job, offering them privileged access to seized assets at judicial auctions. Each time, the women handed over cash — €45,000, over €43,000, and €47,000 — believing the money would secure them a property or other benefits. The suspect then made excuses about taking phone calls and never returned the money. Police eventually arrested him at Madrid's Chamartín-Clara Campoamor station after receiving intelligence he would arrive by train from Murcia. They recovered just over €6,000 in cash and confiscated the suspect's props, a fraction of the victims' losses.",
  "summary": "The man’s backpack had a Guardia Civil’s emblem stitched on it, he had photographs in uniform and a fake badge […]",
  "key_points": [
    "53-year-old man fooled three women in Madrid",
    "Posed as corrupt Guardia Civil officer with fake props",
    "Recovered €6,000, women lost €135,000"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}