The promise seemed simple: to earn up to 100 euros by opening a bank account without needing to work or make any investment. Behind this offer, spread through videos on TikTok, there was a system for recruiting people who ended up handing over control of their accounts to third parties. The Guardia Civil has dismantled this structure as part of the operación Black-Account, carried out in the provinces of Granada and Almería, with a balance of two people arrested, one investigated and at least 162 victims affected.
As the Guardia Civil reported this Saturday, 14 November, the accounts were used to receive, transfer and conceal money coming from scams and other cybercrimes. The people responsible were looking for real account holders who would pass the identification checks of the financial institutions and then hand over their access codes. In this way, the money moved through accounts opened in the names of people who were not the ones carrying out the transactions, making it difficult for investigators to identify the true people responsible.
The investigation has made it possible to recover 38,000 euros and close the TikTok channel from which the offers were being spread. Among those detained is the administrator of the profile used to recruit users. The inquiries continue to be open and the agents do not rule out further arrests.
How they recruited people on TikTok willing to open accounts for 100 euros
The procedure began with videos with an everyday appearance posted on TikTok, in which an economic reward of up to 100 euros was promised for opening a bank account. The messages presented the operation as a way to get money quickly and without risk, without explaining what use would later be made of the financial products.
To make contact easier, the profile administrator left a phone number in the comments of the videos. Interested people could use this to communicate with the recruiters and receive instructions for opening the accounts.
The next step consisted of completing registration with a financial institution. The recruited person used their own DNI and passed the identification process through a video verification of their face, so that the account was legally registered in their name. However, afterward they provided the recruiters with the security codes received by SMS, allowing them to access and operate.
The result was that the account holder remained the recruited person, but effective control passed into the hands of the alleged fraudsters. From that moment on, they could use it to receive amounts obtained through deception, transfer funds to other accounts, and make its tracking difficult.
This practice is known as the recruitment of "bank mules" or "economic mules", a type of scheme used in cybercrime operations to move money through intermediaries. In some cases, participants do not know the real destination of the funds; in others, they may be aware that they are collaborating in illegal operations.
Up to 26 bank accounts in the name of one person and 80,000 euros in transactions
One of the most significant findings of the Black-Account operation is the number of accounts that the individuals involved could come to use. The Guardia Civil has verified that one of the investigated account holders accumulated 26 accounts opened in eight different financial entities, which made it possible to considerably expand the ability to move money.
The investigators also detected that from a single account at a digital financial entity, nearly 80,000 euros circulated. This amount corresponds to the volume of funds detected in that account, not necessarily to the profit obtained by those responsible.
The system allowed distributing the proceeds from scams among different accounts and financial platforms. Subsequently, the money could be transferred again or sent to services related to cryptocurrencies, increasing the difficulty of reconstructing its route.
The Guardia Civil emphasizes that the main risk of this mechanism is its ability to multiply. A single video can reach thousands of users and recruit numerous people willing to open accounts for a small reward. Each new account provides another channel to receive funds of illicit origin and move them away from those who organized the scams.
The investigation began about a year ago, after one of the people harmed filed a complaint in Granada. From that moment on, agents from the Equipo de Investigación Tecnológica (EDITE) analyzed banking documentation and technological data to reconstruct the movement of money and identify the alleged perpetrators.
What risks are there in lending a bank account to another person
The Guardia Civil warns that ceding control of a bank account can have much more serious consequences than losing access to the money deposited in it. Even if another person is the one who carries out the transactions, the account continues to be linked to the identity of its holder, which may end up being related to movements investigated for possible crimes.
This can cause the affected person to receive requests from their financial institution, the Police, or the judicial authority to explain transactions that appear in their name. In addition, people who knowingly participate in the movement of funds from illicit activities can incur criminal liability, depending on their involvement and the circumstances accredited.
That said, opening an account or having been captured through deception does not automatically make a person guilty of money laundering. It will be necessary to determine what they knew about the transactions and what role they played. The existence of an account used to carry out scams also does not by itself prove that its holder voluntarily participated in them.
The problem can extend beyond bank transactions. An investigation published by Maldita.es in June 2026 documented other cases of being recruited through TikTok and Facebook in which the affected people lost control of their credentials and even reported that their identities had been used to commit new scams on digital platforms.
What to do if you have opened a bank account in exchange for money
In the face of this type of offer, the Guardia Civil recommends not opening accounts for third parties or handing over passwords, access keys, or verification codes, even if financial compensation is promised or it is ensured that the operation has no risks.
If a person has already provided their data, the authorities advise contacting the bank immediately to report what happened, block the compromised access, and review the account’s transactions. It is also important to keep the conversations with the recruiters, the messages received, and any documents related to the operation.
The Guardia Civil also recommends filing a complaint if banking data has been provided to third parties or if it is suspected that an account is being used without authorization. Those affected can go to a station of the force or call the 062 to receive guidance.
Agents remember that no legitimate company needs to use bank accounts opened in the name of third parties to carry out its activity. Therefore, proposals of easy money in exchange for handing over an account should be considered a red flag.
The Black-Account operation, which has made it possible to close the recruitment channel, recover 38,000 euros, and identify at least 162 victims, remains ongoing. Investigators continue to analyze the financial transactions and the technological information collected to determine whether there are more people involved in a structure that took advantage of TikTok’s reach to obtain new bank accounts with which to channel money from cybercrime.