Police swoop on 300 email scammers

Spanish police have carried out a mass raid on email scammers, arresting over 300 people at 166 locations.

The raids were part of a joint operation with the FBI and netted 2,000 mobile phones, 327 computers, 165 fax machines and €218,000 in cash.

The scammers are thought to have robbed over 20,000 victims in 45 countries including the UK, US, France, Germany, Australia and Japan.

"Anyone who has an email account will be all too familiar with email scams which claim they have won fortunes, or offer rewards for anyone prepared to help move money from far flung countries," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

"The sad fact is that these scams are still managing to fool people, and organised criminal gangs are profiting from the naivety of internet users.

"These arrests represent a significant victory for the computer crime authorities, but the battle is far from over."

The scammers were sending emails claiming that the recipient had won an overseas lottery. When people responded they were asked to pay a series of commission and processing payments but did not receive any money.