In Benidorm, Spain, a 59-year-old man is accused of defrauding numerous tourists. He was renting out apartments that did not belong to him.

A large-scale scam. In the Spanish resort of Benidorm, a 59-year-old man is accused of defrauding several tourists. The conman rented apartments that did not belong to him and demanded security deposits for them.

It all started when a woman from Belgium, who lived in the 50-year-old's residence, wanted to buy a garage. The garage was priced at €22,000, and the conman was to act as an intermediary. The woman signed a preliminary sales agreement and paid a deposit of €2,200, as reported by the Belgian media outlet 7sur7.

As she was about to board her flight to Benidorm, the man in his fifties explained to her that the seller had serious health problems and had cancelled the sale.

The Belgian woman quickly discovered the scam; the contract was fake and the garage was never actually for sale. After the scammer refused to reimburse her travel expenses and deposit, she decided to file a complaint.

The man was already known to the police.

According to Spanish police, local authorities already had the man under surveillance for several real estate frauds.

He always operated in the same way: the man would offer seasonal rentals, collect the deposit or rent, and then, once he had the money, the man in his fifties would back out, inventing an excuse. He would then block the victims' phone numbers.

Several victims trapped

A neighbor was also a victim of one of his scams. The 59-year-old man allegedly borrowed the keys to her apartment temporarily, claiming he was coming to visit family. A few months later, the woman discovered an elderly couple living in her apartment. The con artist was renting it to them for 700 euros a month.

But she's far from the only one to have fallen into the trap. A Spanish holidaymaker had rented the apartment from the con artist. Upon arriving in Benidorm, he found himself facing a locked door. The concierge then told him that he wasn't the first victim.

Charged with fraud, breach of trust, and forgery, he faces several years in prison. Police do not rule out the possibility of several victims coming forward in the coming days.