In sweeping raids across 52 provinces, Turkish police seized $127M in assets and detained 423 suspects in a cybercrime probe targeting fraud, identity theft, money laundering and child exploitation.
Turkish authorities detained 423 suspects in a sweeping cybercrime operation across 52 provinces, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced Monday.
The coordinated raids, carried out over the past week, resulted in 145 formal arrests on charges including online fraud, illegal betting, child pornography, harassment, and unauthorized access to computer systems.
Of those detained, 128 suspects were placed under judicial supervision, while the remaining individuals remain under investigation.
In the raids, police seized assets worth an estimated 5 billion Turkish liras ($127.6 million), along with unlicensed firearms, hard drives, servers, mobile phones, bank cards, and other digital evidence, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The assets are now subject to forfeiture under Turkey’s asset recovery laws, and officials say the digital evidence will help trace illicit funds and identify additional suspects, including some possibly operating abroad.
Authorities said suspects were involved in a range of online schemes, including fraudulent forex and cryptocurrency investment offers, fake gift card promotions, car rental scams, bogus vacation rentals, e-commerce fraud, and digital pyramid schemes.
Investigators also uncovered bank accounts used to launder money through illegal betting networks. The group allegedly developed technical infrastructure to support gambling websites and hack into mobile banking platforms. Obscene material involving children was also discovered.
Authorities used a combination of digital surveillance and undercover operations to carry out the raids, the ministry added.
