It turned out that 19 of the 48 suspects detained in an Izmir-based crypto money operation were arrested. The scammers were deceiving users by imitating the sites of famous crypto platforms. Here are the details…
They made a profit of 50 million lira: 19 people were arrested
cryptocoin.com As we have also reported, an Izmir-based crypto money operation was carried out. The Anti-Cyber Crime Branch of the Izmir Police Department had taken action. In the operation, people suspected of obtaining cryptocurrencies of users via fake websites were detained in Adana, Aksaray, Ağrı, Aydın, Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Isparta, Istanbul, Hakkari, Kırklareli, Kocaeli, Mersin, Muğla, Niğde and Samsun. The operation was aimed at suspects who are thought to have hijacked users’ coins by copying the websites of famous crypto exchanges and brokers.
As a result of the investigation, detention warrants were issued for 64 suspects, 2 Georgians and 1 Ukrainian citizen, who allegedly seized the crypto money accounts of the victims over the fake websites they created on March 14. While 48 people were taken into custody as a result of the operation, 19 of the 34 people who were referred to the courthouse were arrested and 15 were released on the condition of judicial control. As we have previously reported, the suspects opened sites that imitate the sites of some widely used exchanges in Turkey, allowing users to visit these sites.
For example, these exchanges were portrayed as offering bounties on social media, allowing users to click links to these fake sites. It was also ensured that these fake sites rank high in search engines. Usernames and passwords of users logging into the site were in the hands of fraudsters. Then, they would reach these people by phone and get GSM approval. With this method, it turned out that fraudsters sent their crypto money to their overseas accounts. The figure they obtained using this method is quite large: 50 million TL. It was stated that the ringleader of the fraud gang was Ukrainian national RP and this person lived a luxurious life with unjust gain.
Victims told: They lost thousands of lira cryptocurrency
According to reports, one of the victims, MAA, was defrauded on February 5, 2022. The victim said that he saw an advertisement on social media that a gift would be given to people logging into an account on a certain cryptocurrency exchange, and then clicked on the link in the post and entered his username and password. Later, he was called from his mobile phone by a person pretending to be a customer representative of the stock exchange, claiming that there was “suspicious transaction in the account”. Then, posing as a customer representative, the fraudster asked for the confirmation code sent to the user’s e-mail, and thus 370,000 TL was withdrawn from MAA’s account. So, a “phishing” scam took place.
Phishing can occur via email, SMS, instant messaging apps, social media, and even phone calls. Phishing scammers often create elaborate clones of company profiles, websites and emails they want to impersonate; this can make it difficult for users to easily identify such outreach as a scam. The purpose of phishing attacks is to persuade the user to click on a link and/or provide their credentials to gain access to their account and funds.
