370 million TL profiteering during a visa appointment! Correspondence was revealed: A girl came with the same property

In the investigation carried out by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office Organized Crimes Investigation Bureau against some individuals and companies providing visa consultancy and appointment services, it was determined that the suspects received money from citizens with the promise of 'guaranteed visa' and 'guaranteed appointment' via virtual media and the internet, and did not return all or part of the money in cases where they did not provide the promised service.

It was determined that some people and companies tried to continue their activities, while others wanted to take advantage of the gap created after the first operation. It was decided to take action against the suspects for the crimes of 'qualified fraud', 'unlawful transfer or acquisition of personal data', 'cyber crimes' and 'laundering of assets resulting from crime'.

OPERATION WAS HELD AGAINST 60 SUSPECTS

In the digital materials and correspondence examined, findings were obtained that limited appointments in the systems of consulates or authorized application centers were made in a short time by automatic software called "bots". It was determined that this method made it difficult for citizens to make appointments through normal means and directed them to paid intermediary services. It was evaluated that the appointment service effectively turned into a black market with this method. Within the scope of the investigation, a simultaneous operation was organized by the Istanbul Provincial Gendarmerie Command to capture a total of 60 suspects in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, Antalya, Balıkesir, Denizli and Kocaeli. According to the findings in the file, it was found that additional money was taken from citizens with the promise of bot software support in the amount of approximately 300-400 euros per transaction, and additional income was provided to people who made appointments through automatic software.

TOTAL COST OF COLLECTIONS IS APPROXIMATELY 370 MILLION TL

In the preliminary financial review reports, it was determined that the total collections considered to be related to visa and consultancy services were approximately 370 million TL. It was learned that among these collections, works are continuing to determine the total damage suffered by citizens by determining the works for which no service was provided, which were provided incompletely, or whose fees were not refunded. Transactions regarding the transfer of applicants' passport images, identity and contact information to third parties, and the collection of service fees through the accounts of the company, company partners, employees and other persons and their redirection to different accounts and financial channels are also examined.

On the other hand, WhatsApp correspondence emerged. Company correspondence regarding the words "A girl came and the same goods" and the comments made for the incoming customer were identified one by one.