It appears that the police arrested five Nigerians, a British man, a Spanish woman and also a minor whose nationality was not disclosed. The arrests followed an operation code-named Global Trust, which was carried out in co-operation with Interpol.
The scam involved sending e-mails ostensibly originating from a rich African who needs help to access his money, in return for millions of dollars. According to El Mundo, the group used web pages designed in the US, and contact with potential victims was made from a number of countries including the UK, France, Germany and Pakistan.
It is believed that more than 300 people, most of them in the US, France, Germany and Spain have already given money to the fraudsters.