Security News > 2023 > May > Cops crack gang that used bots to book and resell immigration appointments

Police have arrested 69 people alleged to have used bots to book up nearly all of Spain's available appointments with immigration officials, and then sold those meeting slots for between €30 and €200 to aspiring migrants.

Those arrested include the four alleged leaders of the crime ring, plus lawyers, managers, advisors, recruiters, and intermediaries, who reportedly received "Large amounts of money" from the sale of the immigration appointments.

"Those arrested rented the bot for uninterrupted use of the online appointment computer system, entering or transmitting data, in a way that seriously affected the normal and correct functioning of the appointment management website for immigration procedures throughout the national territory," the Spanish plod stated.

It would appear to us that the bot automated at least some of the immigration appointment booking process, and humans involved in the scam completed the rest.

Each intermediary had a license to use the bot and access to a spreadsheet for scheduling appointments across the country.

"The bot detected the moment in which appointments were released in the different provinces and appropriated them by having the data preloaded and being programmed 24 hours a day, controlling the release of appointments, compromising the functional operability of the system," according to the Spanish cops.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/05/16/spain_bot_immigration_booking_scam/