Turkish authorities unveil a major credit card fraud for tourists in Kusadasi

Turkish gendarmerie in Aydin County in a major operation has revealed credit card fraud in the tourist town of Kusadasi, with a total damage of nearly $ 30 million – Turky Today reported.

Police carried out coordinated actions in Mugla, Izmir, Antalya and Istanbul districts.

The investigation began after a signal from a trading bank, which observed suspicious transactions of foreign client accounts. Negular transactions were followed by POS terminals in two Kusadasi hotels.

The main suspect, a hotel owner, allegedly collected data from tourists’ credit cards through reservations, and then shared them with related businesses, including other hotels and car rental companies.

After the return of tourists to their countries, their cards were withdrawn from their non -used services. The total amount of fraud reaches 1.15 billion Turkish liras ($ 29.27 million).

It is claimed that some members of the criminal group were traveling abroad to obtain additional credit card data, which were then used in the scheme. Illegal profit was then washed through legitimate companies used as covering companies. To avoid detection, the money was transferred to small amounts through a technique known as « Smurfing », and some of the funds were invested in real estate.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Ferlika has said 20 suspects have been detained, including the leader of the group, owner of the hotel. At least 268 foreign tourists are victims of fraud.