Fraud warning from experts against fake TOKİ rental housing sites

NEWS CENTER - Experts warn against sites that rush people and ask for money or personal information, especially with expressions such as 'last 15 houses' or 'win immediately before the draw'. So, how to spot a fake TOKİ website, which addresses should be trusted when applying? Here are the methods used by fraudsters and critical details to pay attention to. Reported by CNN Türk Reporter Sinan Ağca and his guest.

FRAUD IN TOKİ SOCIAL HOUSING RENTAL APPLICATIONS

TOKİ social housing applications have started, and fraudsters appeared before the citizens with fake application screens. Scammers, who imitate real websites almost exactly, target those who want to apply by appearing at the top of search engines with sponsored ads. When citizens make searches such as 'TOKİ Istanbul rental housing application', they may enter the site thinking that the first link they see is official. However, the screen you see after a few steps can turn into a fraud trap that is difficult to distinguish from the real thing.

THEY COPY TOKİ'S WEBSITE EXACTLY

Forensic Information Specialist Prof. Dr. Ali Murat Kırık explained the methods of fraudsters and ways to protect themselves;

"Scammers, who previously used similar methods in the 'Project of the Century', are now targeting citizens with sponsored advertisements they place on search engines for the rental housing project. The real application address is toki.gov.tr or the e-Government Gateway, turkiye.gov.tr, without any problems.

THEY ARE FIRST ON THE SEARCH ENGINE

However, when citizens type "TOKİ Istanbul rental housing application" into the search engine, they are directed to the sponsored fake links at the top. "Scammers who use fake extensions such as kiralik.kelvo.online or kiralikkonut.versel.app instead of the official address create a perception of trust by copying the design of the site exactly."

THEY COPIED THE LOGOS AND E-GOVERNMENT INTERFACE EXACTLY

In addition to images of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, official logos of e-Government, TOKİ and the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change are used on fake sites. Citizens who access these sites, which do not give warnings on devices without security software, encounter the e-Government login screen. Due to the databases previously taken over by cyber bullies, randomly entered T.R. Even ID numbers and passwords are accepted by the system and the user is misled with the message "Your application is suitable."

DON'T LOSE YOUR MONEY AND E-GOVERNMENT INFORMATION

In the professionally prepared fake panel, all districts of Istanbul are displayed with misleading expressions such as "Last 15 residences" or "Win immediately before the draw." For example, when Maltepe district is selected, a monthly rental fee of 12,000 TL and an application fee of 12,000 TL are requested for a 2+1 house.

Citizens, who proceed step by step, are asked to obtain their phone number, deposit the money into a given IBAN account, and upload the receipt to the system. When the transaction is completed, citizens lose 12,000 TL and lose their e-Government passwords to fraudsters.

"Within the scope of the 15,000 rental social housing project, no application fee is required from citizens. Transactions should only be made through toki.gov.tr ​​and turkiye.gov.tr ​​addresses, sponsored links and sites requesting personal information or money should not be respected. Citizens who are victimized should file a criminal complaint to the Public Prosecutor's Office without delay."