A total of 46 suspects face sentences of up to 762 years in prison in Turkey for setting up a tourist scam scheme to defraud and extort money from tourists in various locations in Istanbul, including restaurants and nightclubs.
According to the Turkish daily Hürriyet, the police investigation against the defendants, 26 of whom have been arrested, has revealed a sophisticated scam scheme in which the group operated in various establishments in areas frequented by tourists such as Taksim, Istiklal, Aksaray, Sultanahmet and Karaköy; there, people speaking different languages (Arabic, Persian, English, German, etc.) approached tourists with different excuses and offered to take them to certain places with all sorts of promises (cheap drinks, low prices, free massages, sexy women, etc.).
Once the tourists were seated in the establishments that were part of the scheme, they were served at least one drink, and – usually – women seated at the next table and acting as a hook would engage the tourists in conversation in order to obtain information of interest to them, such as the length of their stay in Istanbul, their profession or their economic capacity.
The latter information was used to inflate the bill tourists had to pay for food or drinks; if the tourists in question were planning to stay longer, they were charged more normal prices to gain their confidence; but if they were about to end their stay in Turkey, the bill for drinks was inflated, making them pay more exorbitant amounts the higher their previously disclosed income or financial capacity was.
Threats and physical assaults if tourists refused to pay
If tourists refused to pay the sum presented to them, they were threatened, intimidated and even – in some cases – physically assaulted by those involved and the employees of the premises that were part of the scheme, until they finally agreed to pay. The fraudsters would even follow the tourists after they left the establishment, using individuals they called “the street people” in their jargon: these were supposed to follow them and, if they saw that they were going to the police, approach them and tell them that there had been a mistake with the bill, handing over the overcharged money on the spot.
For extra security, in case of inspections following a police report or raids, the premises involved even had secret exits through which they could escape in time. The members communicated with each other by means of mobile phone messages, with which they coordinated and chose their victims, particularly taking advantage of tourists who were under the influence of alcohol. There are at least 53 individual complainants in the judicial process, but it is believed that the real number of those affected is much higher; however, many did not report it out of fear or embarrassment, or simply to avoid complications as they had to return to their country soon… A circumstance the scammers were aware of, and which they took advantage of, too.
The prosecution, which accuses the group of several charges including that of creating a criminal organisation, stresses in the indictment that such tourist scam schemes not only harm the tourists who visit Istanbul, but tourism in Turkey in general by seriously damaging the image and reputation of the Turkish tourism sector; indeed, the prosecutor cites a documentary made years ago by the Irish presenter Conor Woodman, who talks about Istanbul in one of the chapters of his documentary series entitled “Scam City“.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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