In a statement, the PJ indicated that the activity consisted of scam holders of properties in 'time sharing', "through fraudulent proposals for intermediation of the sale of this to the foreign market, charging high monetary amounts for this alleged intermediation".

"The detainees will be the main responsible for hundreds of scams with the fictitious resale of titles of holiday weeks in the Algarve region, making this civil wrong their way of life", reads the document.

According to the PJ, the men, already with criminal records for crimes of qualified swindling, were detained under the “Call Center II” operation.

During the operation initiated by the Southern Directorate of the PJ, searches were carried out on homes, companies and vehicles in the Albufeira region, in the Faro district, in an inquiry conducted by the Portimão section of the Faro Department of Investigation and Criminal Action.

The men were heard in the first judicial interrogation, and preventive detention, the most severe, was ordered as a coercive measure.