The judicial police's investigations have allowed them to reconstruct in minute detail the activities of a criminal group dedicated to a long series of online and telephone scams, carried out using sophisticated techniques and a structured organization.
According to investigators, wiretaps and audio recordings allowed them to definitively identify the telephone numbers and voices attributable to the suspects, making the conversations fully usable as evidence of a criminal conspiracy aimed at computer fraud.
The top of the group: "Spid" and his wife
According to investigators, the ring was led by Salvatore Cacace, alias "Spid," and his wife Amalia Spadaro. The two, described as the initiators and managers of the organization, contacted the victims directly by posing as bank employees.
Through the dark web, they purchased, paying in Bitcoin, packets of sensitive data containing credit card numbers and PayPal accounts associated with real phone numbers. This data was then used to carry out serial scams.
Phishing, spoofing, and the €199 scam message
The scheme was as tried and tested as it was deceptive. It all started with an identical SMS in every case, alerting the victim of an alleged charge of €199,47 to their account.
In the message, the victim was invited to click on a link “to verify the anomaly”: a fake website, artfully constructed to collect banking credentials and personal information.
From that moment, the second phase began. The suspects, using phishing and spoofing techniques, called the victim, pretending to be anti-fraud operators, and, in a reassuring tone, promised to "block" the suspicious transaction.
In reality, during the phone call they convinced the person to provide temporary OTP (One Time Password) codes that arrived via SMS, essential for completing fraudulent online purchases.
The victims: elderly people targeted on the dark web
Investigations revealed that the preferred victims were elderly people, selected based on their birth dates in databases purchased on the dark web. These individuals were considered more vulnerable and less capable of reacting in time to block ongoing banking transactions.
Purchases from Leroy Merlin and collection in Giugliano
With the stolen data and OTP codes, the scammers made real-time purchases of expensive goods – air conditioners, drills, boilers and other building materials – on the Leroy Merlin website, paying with the stolen cards.
In almost all cases, the products were ordered for collection at the Giugliano in Campania store, but there were also operations at the stores in Afragola and Torre Annunziata.
The person who almost always collected the goods was Salvatore Simonetti, considered one of the group's main executors.
It might interest you
The Clan's Coffee: The Silent War Between the D'Alessandros for Control of Castellammare's Bars
Maxi-trial on prison violence: Justice system risks a reset. Lawyers on the warpath.
Castellammare, candles lit outside the homes of extortion victims: the macabre method of the D'Alessandro clan.
Here's how the Musella group from Casoria flooded Sannio and Irpinia with cocaine.
The recycling chain: receivers and warehouses
Two names recur repeatedly in the investigations: Salvatore Cataldo and Michele Della Rotonda, identified as the gang's main receivers.
Cataldo had the goods delivered to Sant'Antimo, while Della Rotonda stored them in the Scampia neighborhood, to then resell them independently.
According to investigators, both were perfectly aware of the fraudulent origin of the assets and actively participated in the conspiracy.
Raffaele Ranucci, Gennaro Accurso, and Nicolas Sarnacchiaro also appear in some episodes, the latter being the brother-in-law of “Spid,” who allegedly helped Simonetti in the collection operations.
Prepaid cards and the role of Simona Palumbo
The investigation also uncovered a second strand of activity: the use of fictitious prepaid cards registered in the victim's name to receive fraudulent bank transfers.
In this part of the organization, the name of Simona Palumbo stands out, as she is responsible for recruiting people willing to lend their identities, in exchange for a fee, to register the cards.
Once the funds had been credited, Palumbo herself went to the bank to withdraw the money, which was then handed over to Maicol Sarnacchiaro, another brother-in-law of Cacace, considered the custodian of the proceeds.
The operational base in Marianella
The group's headquarters was the house at Via dell'Abbondanza 52, in the Marianella district of Naples, formally assigned to a deceased person.
Cacace and Spadaro lived there, and there – according to the prosecution – the scams were planned, computers and telephones were stored, and the operations to be carried out were decided.
Spadaro, in addition to participating in phone calls with the victims, contributed to the internal organization, suggesting the purchase of SIM cards registered in fictitious names and discussing the operational procedures with her husband and other accomplices.
Bitcoin and the Dark Web: The Cost of Fraud
A central aspect of the investigation concerns the use of Bitcoin as a tool to finance the fraudulent activity.
In several intercepted conversations, investigators recorded Cacace and Simonetti talking about "going to put in the Bitcoins," an expression that—investigators explain—referred to paying cryptocurrency to purchase lists of personal data on the dark web.
In a conversation on February 7, 2025, “Spid” even complained about the group’s daily expenses, listing among the costs “the Bitcoins invested yesterday,” precisely those used to buy new lists of credit cards and telephone identities to scam.
A technological and familiar criminal system
The prosecutor's investigation—which charges the main suspects with criminal conspiracy to commit cyber fraud—describes a cohesive, organized group equipped with advanced technological resources: computers with programs dedicated to browsing the dark web, phones untraceable to the suspects, dozens of fake SIM cards, and rental cars for pickup.
But above all, a family system, built on ties of blood and trust: Cacace, his wife, his brothers-in-law and his associates, united in a criminal plan which, according to investigators, generated tens of thousands of euros and damaged dozens of victims throughout Italy.
Comments (1)
The article is informative, but I noticed some language errors and the structure isn't always clear. It would be helpful if they provided more details on how these scams work and what protective measures people can take.