Over 300 Men Fall for Fake Gigolo Scam
More than 300 men fell for a Spanish sex scam, paying 124,000 euros ($170,000) in registration fees for the false promise of work as high-class gigolos, police said Tuesday.
A total of 310 men replied to national newspaper job advertisements for a bogus male escort agency, which demanded employment fees in advance, national police said in a statement.
Police detained two women in southwestern Spain who were suspected of running the con.
One of the women who was picked up in the Mediterranean beach resort of Fuengirola had been arrested twice before for similar cases, police said.
"She would place ads in national newspapers promising highly paid work to men in exchange for them having sex with women who have a high level of purchasing power," police said.
"The victims would have to pay money beforehand to register in an alleged employment center."
The other woman was believed to have helped run the scam.
Police swooped after receiving complaints from men in several Spanish regions. Spain has an unemployment rate of around 21 percent, the highest level among industrialized nations.
Source: Agence France Presse
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