"They were looking for friendship or a relationship, and there was a phase where they were pressured to send money or kept on premium-rate numbers for extended periods, and they suffered anxiety because the person they were involved with was having a very difficult time." This is how one of the researchers summarized the method they followed. The accused of defrauding at least six men by pretending to be a woman on dating apps. "Several of those he lured were vulnerable people or people with disabilities, like Àlex," the police officer added, referring to the young man who ended up committing suicide before the phone bills left his family bankrupt. In fact, one of the six victims listed in the case was accompanied by his guardian at a disability support organization when he reported the scam to the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police). This Friday, the young man attended the second and final day of the trial alone, where he explained that he lost between 600 and 800 euros to this scam, which caused him fear and anxiety. "They called me so many times that I had to stay awake all night. They told me they would come to where I lived, that I would receive large fines," he explained to the court. With some variations in each case, the scam always followed the same pattern: the victims knew a girl On the internet—the user always used the same mobile phone but went by different names—he asked for help to quit working for a webcam sex show company. He instructed them to call premium-rate numbers for as long as possible, even though there was no one on the other end of the line. Then messages arrived from another number. In this case, the caller identified himself as a representative of the sex show company and demanded transfers or more calls to avoid a supposed fine incurred as a result of the calls to the premium-rate number. The accused allegedly obtained almost €27,000 in this way, and the prosecution is seeking a sentence for fraud and extortion that could carry a maximum of 11 years in prison.