A 25-year-old communication technologies technician from Pendik, Istanbul wanted to supplement his income by becoming a gigolo in April and found an internet site promising to help him.
The man, identified by Hürriyet only by his initials A.D., filled out a form and provided his telephone number. The next day a woman called, asking him to pay TL 400 ($85) to activate his membership. He was later asked to pay another TL 500 to activate his password.
The next call told him that he was assigned a woman, who had paid a fee and he would need to pay TL 800 to gain access to the funds. The prospective gigolo was told to pay a total of TL 11,350 in 40 days and he did. He eventually realized he was being swindled, filing a complaint at the local prosecutor's office.
In the compliant, he said they kept asking him to pay more money, each time telling him that this would be the last. He was also told he would eventually be reimbursed. "I was told the last TL 700 I paid was blocked because it was TL 5 below the system's requirement and they asked me to pay the same amount again. I got angry and the woman on the phone told me there was nothing to be angry about and I would soon be getting my money back. So, I sent another TL 700. She then told me the system was down and would be back online the next day.
They then asked me to pay TL 4,602 to lift the blockage on my account and if I did so, I would be getting TL 32,000. I must have been dazed or something because I paid that too. When they told me the account remained blocked, I understood that I was being deceived." He said the site had provided none of the services it promised to and the phone numbers listed did not answer his calls. He demanded all his money back.
The prosecutor who investigated the matter eventually decided that law did not grant protection to immoral or illegal contracts and that the legal definition of fraud could not be applied to the case, dismissing the compliant.
