Turkish authorities on Friday launched coordinated raids against an Israel-linked international fraud network accused of defrauding foreign nationals through bogus forex and cryptocurrency investment schemes.
Authorities detained 175 of 239 suspects in raids at 286 addresses in Istanbul and the western province of Muğla, Türkiye's Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said.
Four separate investigations conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in 2026 uncovered evidence that some companies operating as call centers had used social media and the internet to advertise forex and cryptocurrency investments, promising high returns to foreign nationals, Gürlek said on X.
The investigation was coordinated by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Bureau for Investigating Terror Financing and Money Laundering Crimes, in cooperation with the Istanbul Regional Directorate of the National Intelligence Organization, the Department of Combating Organized Crime and the Istanbul Police Department’s Cybercrime Branch, he noted.
Analyses by Türkiye’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board, findings by intelligence and police units, and hundreds of victim complaints obtained through Interpol revealed that people linked to Israel were predominant in the ownership and ultimate beneficiary structures of the companies, Gürlek added.
The findings led authorities to uncover an organized fraud network targeting victims in multiple countries, he said.
The network allegedly used multilingual customer representatives to recruit victims and directed them to investment platforms controlled by suspects, where fabricated profit figures were displayed to encourage them to deposit more money.
When victims attempted to withdraw their funds, they were allegedly asked to make additional payments under pretexts such as "account blockage” and "taxes.” The money deposited by victims was then transferred to bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets abroad.
The network targeted many countries, particularly in Europe, the Far East, and Africa, and reached a transaction volume of approximately 13 billion Turkish liras ($266.4 million) over two years in transactions believed to have been related to office expenses and salary payments, he said.
Based on the findings, authorities launched simultaneous operations at 5 am local time against 28 companies, 42 call centers, and 239 suspects at 286 addresses in Istanbul and Mugla, with Interpol units also participating.
By 10 am, raids had been carried out at the call centers and 175 suspects had been detained, while operations to apprehend the remaining suspects were ongoing, Gürlek said.
