22.10.2025 10:31
A person in Ankara was scammed under the pretense of a pilgrimage tour. The suspect, who was found to have sent 39,500 Turkish liras received from a person wishing to perform the Umrah pilgrimage to a betting site, was sentenced to prison.
The new target of social media scammers is citizens who want to perform the Umrah pilgrimage.
The incident occurred on October 20, 2023, in Ankara. The complainant, P.B., contacted the suspect, Hüseyin K., who organized Umrah programs through social media, to perform the Umrah pilgrimage. After watching the videos shared on the suspect's social media account, the complainant P.B. trusted him and sent 39,500 lira to the suspect's account.
"THE GROUP IS CROWDED," HE SAID AND POSTPONED THE TOUR
The suspect stated that the departure would be on February 5, but due to the crowd in the group, the visit would take place on February 8. The complainant P.B. waited until the mentioned date. When the date arrived and P.B. could not reach the suspect by phone, he became worried and realized he had been scammed. Subsequently, P.B. filed a complaint against the suspect Hüseyin K. with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
SENT THE MONEY TO HIS ACCOUNT ON A BETTING SITE
Within the scope of the initiated investigation, it was understood that the suspect sent the 39,500 lira paid for Umrah, along with 200,000 lira, to his account on a betting site. As part of the investigation, Kartaler was arrested on February 14, 2024.
The suspect Hüseyin K., whose statement was taken via SEGBİS, stated that he did not know the complainant and said, "The group that the complainant was in was supposed to go for Umrah on February 5, 2024, but it was postponed to February 9, 2024, due to the crowd. Some people in this group did not get visas, and I sent 2.5 million lira from my bank account because my partner asked for money. When the person I lent money to did not pay it back, we could not take the flight."
"THEY COULDN'T REACH ME BECAUSE I WAS ARRESTED"
Claiming that the people in the group could not reach him because he was arrested on February 14, Hüseyin K. stated, "For this reason, they filed a complaint; I did not scam anyone, and I do not accept the charges against me."
4 YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT SENTENCED
After the trial was completed and the case was concluded, the suspect Hüseyin K. was sentenced to 4 years in prison and a fine of 10,000 lira for the crime of fraud by using information systems, banks, or credit institutions as tools.