Arrest of an online fraud network in Turkey
Seized 2.5 billion liras from victims
Security forces in Turkey have arrested a fraud network after it collected huge sums of money from its customers over the past months through online fraud operations.
The Atial network was arrested after security raids on Saturday, and it was found that the network collected huge sums of money from its customers online in Turkey after deceiving them with the existence of companies that did not exist on the ground, according to Turkish websites, including NTV, which indicated that this network was able to collect about 2.5 billion Turkish liras.
Identifying the fraudsters
In detail, the Turkish security services were able to identify 40 people in 18 of the country's states after they deceived their customers with the existence of goods they had purchased online, and then no materials were sent by them to their supposed customers who finally learned that they had fallen victim to electronic fraud.
The network, which numbered at least 40 people, established 23 companies that made “high profits” after publishing “misleading” advertisements on websites and social media platforms. The “imaginary” bank balances of the network members helped the police identify them and launch investigations into their collection of this huge sum of money. They have been able to detain 28 of them so far. The Turkish authorities have released 3 suspects on judicial supervision and 9 others after they testified.
Ban on bank accounts
The authorities are set to begin imposing a precautionary seizure on their bank accounts in an attempt to compensate their victims who filed 111 fraud cases against them.
This network is not the first of its kind in Turkey, as similar networks have been able to commit electronic fraud for huge sums in recent years.
Such fraud operations are repeated in Turkey periodically, according to the announcements of the Turkish cybercrime teams.
The anti-crime teams link the recurrence of these operations to the poor knowledge of Turkish customers about the websites they shop from.
Dismantling a fraud network
In addition to Turks falling victim to electronic shopping sites, there are those who have fallen victim to digital currency buying and selling sites.
Last June, the Turkish Ministry of Interior announced the dismantling of a digital fraud network consisting of 127 people. This network had exploited a fake digital currency platform called "Smart Trade Coin" to defraud investors, as it made false promises Making huge profits without the risk of loss.
Investigations revealed at the time that the network had collected funds estimated at about one billion dollars through fraud operations.
