About one million euros converted into cryptocurrencies has been seized by the PSP, during an operation which led to the detention of 10 people from a group that operated through a false stock exchange brokerage company.

In a statement, the Lisbon Metropolitan Command of the PSP stated that the operation, which ended on Thursday and took place in the metropolitan area of the capital, was directed at “a criminal group” associated with qualified fraud and economic crimes.

According to the PSP, the ten arrested were eight men and two women, aged between 20 and 40 years old, all Brazilians.

In the searches carried out, according to the PSP, it was possible to seize “hundreds of computer materials and about one million euros that had already been converted into cryptocurrencies”.

According to the PSP, the “criminal group” operated through “a false stockbroker company on the stock exchange”, whose sole purpose was “to deceive its clients and deprive them of the money they had invested”.

Victims were selected through data applications that indicated to network operators “not only their contact numbers, but also their hobbies, interests, financial capital and psychological profile”, reads the note.

After contact with the victims, it was noticeable that "many of them were left in a very weak economic situation", adds the metropolitan command, noting that it is believed that they believe they dismantled "a criminal network responsible for thousands of victims outside the national territory".