37 year old German man, resident of Alicante, has been conned out of 34,500 €

37 year old German man, resident of Alicante, has been conned out of 34,500 € using a trick known in Spain as ‘wash wash’.The National Police report that the victim has told them that two black men in their 30’s contacted him after he advertised two hostelry businesses for sale. They said they would pay him for the traspaso of the two premises with notes that had been painted black to evade customs controls, and asked him to pay for chemical products which would clean the notes.Usually the fraud consists of a demonstration using real money as to how the chemical cleans the notes. Later when the payment is made, painted paper is used instead of real notes.The German made a payment for the rental of a safe where the painted cash would be put, and two further payments more to buy the chemicals from an American laboratory. He paid the money to the two men in two meetings, one in a Madrid bar and the second in an industrial estate in Elche.