An Internet scammer swindled money from tourists by promising them to rent a non-existent bungalow in a tourist city in northwestern Turkey. After the deception was revealed, the scammer shamelessly responded to the indignation of the deceived travelers with an audio message: “I ate the money, there is none.” The scam was published by the Turkish newspaper Turizm Guncel.
Sakarya, a million-plus city, little known to Russian tourists, but popular among locals, is located near Lake Sapancana, 145 km from Istanbul. This area is becoming an increasingly attractive holiday destination, but such popularity also attracts scammers.
It was clarified that the attacker created a social media account using the name of a well-known travel agency owned by the president of the Turkish Tourism Association (TÜRSAB). He started posting attractive photos that could be easily found on the Internet and talking about a wonderful holiday in non-existent bungalows. The scammer attracted the attention of almost 84,000 subscribers. For booking a bungalow, he asked to transfer money in full – 2,500 thousand lira per day of stay (approximately 8,500 rubles at the current exchange rate). Tourists were not embarrassed by prepayment.
One of the couples who decided to confirm their reservation on the eve of departure contacted the contacts indicated in the group and realized that they had become a victim of a scammer. In response to their claim, the attacker only laughed at them and sent an audio message with the following content: “If you want, file a complaint with the prosecutor's office, if you want, at the courthouse, if you want, with the best prosecutor in Turkey. You won't get your money. I ate the money, there is none.”
After establishing the fact of the crime, the deceived tourists turned to the prosecutor's office. Currently, the police and law enforcement agencies are investigating to find the perpetrator and prevent similar cases in the future.
Recall that the high season in Turkey has caused a wave of fraud against tourists to overwhelm the country. The main fraud schemes were supplemented by massive car rental fraud. The scheme is the same as with hotels – scammers create fake websites and social media pages that look exactly like the original ones. As a result, at least 5,000 travelers fell for their bait this year alone in Turkey – read the details here.
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