Police urges citizens against fraduders

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

AA Photo

Security forces have urged citizens not to leave their money or gold in the garbage, saying they should ignore phone calls from fraudsters telling them to do so.

A total of 10 million Turkish Liras have been stolen in 53 cases in the first seven months of 2013, according to police data. The police have managed to protect some of this money and also captured 99 people, 45 of whom have been arrested.

Fraudsters often seek to cheat people by pretending to be prosecutors or police officers working on a terror incident or a secret case. They originally used their own bank accounts and convinced the victim to transfer money, but now suspects appear to have changed methods, asking victims to leave money in garbage bags in the city. The suspects use camera footage streamed on the Internet to show traffic flows and tell victims what they are wearing, in order to be more convincing.

The police said the suspects were very convincing, and that a man living in the Black Sea province of Trabzon even took a flight to Istanbul and left the bag filled with money in a particular garbage area, before returning home to Trabzon.

Another striking case involved a housewife living in Istanbul’s Bostancı neighborhood, who transferred 12,000 liras to an account after she was told to do so. The suspect called her again the other day and asked for her to give them gold and jewelry, saying they would “examine whether this gold had been bought with money used by terrorists.” The woman then gave the money to the suspects, who introduced themselves as police officers.

The police have urged citizens not to believe such people who call them on phone. In addition, they warn that the suspects are calling people via the Internet in order to make their appear as “155,” or a police station’s number.