Record phishing attacks lead cybercrime surge in Türkiye, police detect 60K online fraud cases
Journalists work with their cell phones and laptop during a press conference on December 14, 2018 in Brussels. (AFP Photo)
Cybercrime in Türkiye is on the rise, with online fraud, particularly phishing, emerging as the most common offense.
According to the Turkish National Police’s Cybercrime Department, over 60,000 incidents of online fraud have been detected out of 76,000 reported cases.
Salih Gozum, head of the Cybercrime Department, shared the findings during a presentation to the Turkish Parliament’s Research Commission.
He emphasized that phishing, fake product sales, and illegal betting are leading the surge in cyber offenses across the country.
Most frequent cybercrimes identified in Türkiye
Gozum said, “Online fraud is qualified fraud by using information systems. The most common area we see in this regard is product sales fraud, phishing.”
“Online illegal betting and gambling, misuse of debit and credit cards, unauthorized access, account theft, qualified theft through informatics, phishing malware part; blocking, disrupting, destroying, or changing data; and online child obscenity and harassment are among the most committed cybercrimes,” he added.
The report highlighted the most prevalent cybercrimes in Türkiye, including:
- Online product sales fraud
- Phishing (email and website impersonation)
- Illegal betting and gambling
- Unauthorized access to accounts
- Bank and credit card misuse
- Identity theft and account hijacking
- Destruction or alteration of data
- Investment scams
- Online child exploitation
Gozum noted that these crimes typically involve the use of information systems and qualify as aggravated fraud under Turkish law.
Financial tracking challenges hamper investigations
Gozum stressed the urgency of improving mechanisms to freeze and trace funds transferred during cyber fraud.
“We correspond with the bank immediately. They, in turn, operate their own internal mechanisms and receive feedback within half an hour or an hour.
It takes 5-6 hours in total, but even this is late. Because in the meantime, the money is being transferred from there to another place, the crypto goes to the cold wallet, and the money goes,” he added.
He stated that while Türkiye allows 24/7 money transfers, police often receive transaction information from banks with delays of up to two months.
- In smaller provinces, coordination with banks is more efficient.
- Some cases see responses within 30–60 minutes, but even that may be too late.
- Criminals often convert funds into cryptocurrency or move them to cold wallets quickly.
These time gaps hinder the recovery of stolen funds and make prosecution more difficult.
Illegal betting sites, money laundering major concern
Illegal betting and gambling websites were identified as a significant source of cybercrime revenue. Authorities are calling for faster shutdown procedures for these platforms and quicker asset seizure to prevent further financial loss.
