Turkey: $30M credit card scam hits tourists in coastal resort, 20 arrested
The alleged ringleader, a hotel owner identified as "H.O.," stole the money by sharing credit card details of tourists checking into the property.
Nearly $30 million has been stolen from tourists in an elaborate credit card fraud scheme in the Turkish coastal resort of Kusadasi, leading to the arrest of 20 people, including the suspected mastermind, according to Turkish media.
Turkish news site T24 reported that at least 268 foreign tourists fell victim to a hoax involving a criminal network that used “smurfing” tactics: breaking down large amounts of money into smaller transactions, often under the reporting threshold, to evade detection by banks. Smurfing often makes it appear as though the money is coming from legitimate sources, making it harder for authorities to trace back to the original criminal activity.
The fraud operation was uncovered by the provincial gendarmerie under the coordination of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Turkiye Today reported Sunday. Authorities found in their investigation that the tourists lost money through unauthorized transactions on their credit cards after returning to their home countries.
Law enforcement found fraudulent transactions at payment processing points in two Kusadasi hotels, with intelligence suggesting that the leader of the fraud operation, a hotel owner named by authorities as "H.O.," allegedly stole credit card details from tourists who had made reservations at the hotel in the Aegean resort town. This information was then shared with other businesses and conspirators, Turkiye Today reported.
The four-month investigation found that some $29.27 million was taken fraudulently from the tourists, T24 reported. The probe was launched when a state-owned bank detected suspicious international transactions and alerted the regulatory authorities. It found that the criminal organization moved its money through a web of shell companies while laundering cash via business fronts.
The plundered funds were then used to buy property, which was then sold to convert the assets into cash. T24 reported that the network made 1.1 billion Turkish lira ($37 million) in revenues from the operation.
Several suspects operated from abroad, but Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said raids carried out on May 31 at 27 locations across Turkey — including in Aydin, Antalya, Izmir, Istanbul and Mugla — targeted the network, resulting in 20 arrests, including that of the alleged ringleader, H.O.
Al-Monitor has contacted the Public Prosecutors’ Office and Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) for comment.
