Fraud is a crime under Article 157 of the Turkish Penal Code, Law No. 5237, with 1 to 5 years' imprisonment; qualified fraud under Article 158, such as online or bank fraud, carries 3 to 10 years. It is prosecuted ex officio. File a written complaint with the public prosecutor or the police, or through a Turkish lawyer holding a power of attorney if you are abroad. Ask for the receiving accounts to be seized under Article 128 of Law No. 5271, join the case as a participant, and file a civil claim within 2 years of learning of the damage and the person liable (Article 72 of Law No. 6098).
Fraud against foreigners in Türkiye usually takes a familiar form: a deposit for an apartment the "seller" never owned, a holiday rental that does not exist, a trading platform that blocks withdrawals, a romance that turns into requests for money, or a partner who empties the company account. The law changed twice in the past year: Law No. 7571 of 24 December 2025 moved qualified fraud cases to the criminal courts of first instance, and Law No. 7589 of 16 July 2026 halved the penalty for people who only handed over their bank card or account access. One thing has not changed: a criminal complaint punishes the fraudster, but the money comes back only if it is traced and blocked quickly and a civil claim runs alongside.
Dolandırıcılık, fraud, is defined in Article 157 of the Turkish Penal Code, Law No. 5237: deceiving a person through fraudulent conduct to obtain a benefit, to the detriment of the victim or another. The penalty is one to five years' imprisonment and a judicial fine of up to 5,000 days, paid to the State Treasury, not to the victim.
The prosecutor will ask whether the deception existed when you paid. A borrower who does not repay has breached a contract, which alone is not fraud. Proof that the "owner" never held the title, that the company was set up weeks earlier, or that your money left the receiving account within hours points to fraud. An abstract, general complaint may be closed without investigation under Article 158(6) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Law No. 5271, so name people, dates, amounts and accounts.
Article 158 sets out nitelikli dolandırıcılık, qualified fraud, punishable by three to ten years. The forms foreign victims meet most are fraud using information systems, banks or credit institutions (Article 158(1)(f), covering most online, crypto and transfer scams), fraud by merchants or company managers in commercial activity (h), exploiting a person's difficult circumstances (b), and posing as a public official or bank employee (l).
| Offence | Penalty Under Law No. 5237 |
|---|---|
| Simple fraud, Article 157 | 1 to 5 years and a judicial fine of up to 5,000 days |
| Qualified fraud, Article 158(1) | 3 to 10 years and a judicial fine of up to 5,000 days |
| Subparagraphs (e), (f), (j), (k), (l), including banks, information systems and false officials | At least 4 years; fine at least twice the benefit obtained |
| Three or more offenders, or a criminal organisation, Article 158(3) | Increased by one half, or doubled |
| Role limited to handing over a card or account access, Article 158(4) | Reduced by one half (since 16 July 2026) |
| Fraud to collect a genuine receivable, Article 159 | 6 months to 1 year or a judicial fine, upon complaint |
Under Articles 12 and 14 of the Law on First Instance Courts and Regional Courts of Appeal, Law No. 5235, as amended by Law No. 7571, both forms are now tried by the asliye ceza mahkemesi, the criminal court of first instance; cases already pending before a heavy penal court stay there.
Neither Article 157 nor Article 158 requires a complaint. Under Article 160 of Law No. 5271 the prosecutor must investigate once he learns of the fraud, and withdrawing your complaint does not end the case.
Fraud to collect a receivable from a genuine legal relationship (Article 159) is prosecuted only upon complaint. Under Article 167, no penalty applies where the victim is a close relative such as an unseparated spouse, a parent or child, or a sibling living in the same home; for a separated spouse and certain other relatives the penalty is halved and a complaint is required. That complaint must be made within six months of learning of the act and the offender (Article 73).
Under Article 253 of Law No. 5271, simple fraud, but not qualified fraud, goes to uzlaştırma, conciliation through a conciliator appointed by the prosecutor's office, and you have seven days to answer the offer. If the suspect pays at once, the file is closed; an unpaid instalment agreement can be enforced like a judgment, and once you reconcile you cannot later sue for damage known at the time. If the victim cannot be reached because he is abroad, the file proceeds without conciliation (Article 253(6)), so an address for service in Türkiye matters.
Etkin pişmanlık, effective repentance, under Article 168 of Law No. 5237 reduces the penalty by up to two thirds if the offender fully repays before the court accepts the indictment, and by up to one half if he repays before judgment; partial repayment counts only with the victim's consent. Under Article 231 of Law No. 5271, a sentence of two years or less can be deferred only if the damage is fully remedied or paid in monthly instalments, as our article on the deferment of the announcement of the verdict explains. These rules are why defence lawyers make offers, so agree to partial payment only with advice.
Under Article 66 of Law No. 5237 criminal limitation runs from the day of the offence; interruptions under Article 67, such as the indictment, extend it by at most one half. Civil deadlines are far shorter.
| Deadline | Current Rule |
|---|---|
| Prosecution of simple fraud | 8 years, at most 12 with interruption |
| Prosecution of qualified fraud | 15 years, at most 22 years and 6 months with interruption |
| Objection to a decision not to prosecute | 2 weeks from service (Article 173 of Law No. 5271) |
| Tort claim for compensation | 2 years from learning of the damage and the person liable, 10 years at the latest, or the longer criminal period (Article 72 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, Law No. 6098) |
| Rejecting a contract obtained by fraud | 1 year from discovery (Article 39 of Law No. 6098) |
Under Article 158 of Law No. 5271, a suç duyurusu, criminal complaint, may be made in writing or orally to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Cumhuriyet Başsavcılığı, or to the police or gendarmerie. The competent office is normally where the offence was committed, and for offences committed through information systems or banks the courts of the victim's domicile are also competent (Article 12(6)). We recommend a written Turkish petition to the prosecutor with your identity, an address for service in Türkiye, everything known about the suspects (names, phone numbers, IBANs, profiles), a dated list of payments, and requests to identify account holders and seize accounts under Article 128. A victim who does not speak Turkish is given an interpreter when heard (Article 202).
You do not need to travel. A Turkish lawyer can act under a vekaletname, a power of attorney, signed at a Turkish consulate or before a local notary and apostilled, as our guide to a power of attorney signed abroad explains. Consulates can receive complaints only about offences committed abroad that must be prosecuted in Türkiye (Article 158(3)); where the fraudster acted from Türkiye, Article 8 of Law No. 5237 treats the offence as committed in Türkiye. Through our criminal law services we file, request seizures and follow the file while the client stays abroad.
Keep transfer receipts, SWIFT confirmations and the receiving IBAN; for crypto, wallet addresses and transaction hashes; full chat exports rather than cropped screenshots; dated screenshots of listings; contracts and any identity documents the fraudster sent. Keep the devices and do not warn the fraudster. Where evidence may be lost, Article 400 of the Code of Civil Procedure, Law No. 6100, allows court ordered preservation.
For fraud, Article 128 of Law No. 5271 allows elkoyma, seizure, of the suspect's real estate, vehicles, bank accounts, receivables and company shares, even when held by others, where strong suspicion based on concrete evidence shows they came from the offence. Only a judge may order it, in practice the sulh ceza hâkimliği, the criminal judgeship of peace, at the prosecutor's request. The bank is notified immediately and transactions designed to defeat the order are invalid. Seized assets belonging to the victim are returned once no longer needed as evidence (Article 131(2)), and under Article 55 of Law No. 5237 proceeds are confiscated only if they cannot be returned to the victim.
In the civil courts, ihtiyati haciz, precautionary attachment, under Article 257 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law, Law No. 2004, can block the debtor's assets; the applicant must give security (Article 259). For a specific asset, such as a property registered to someone else, an interim injunction under Article 389 of Law No. 6100 applies; see our page on property fraud recovery.
A katılan, intervening party, is a victim who formally joins the case after the indictment, at any time until the first instance judgment (Articles 237 and 238 of Law No. 5271). Under Article 234 every victim may request evidence and, once the case opens, is informed of hearings, but the right to appeal is tied to participation; Article 260 also opens appeals to victims whose request to intervene was rejected or left undecided, or who were harmed so as to qualify as participants. Intervening early avoids any dispute about your standing.
A decision not to prosecute is notified to the victim (Article 172), who may object within two weeks to the criminal judgeship of peace, setting out facts and evidence (Article 173). Our article on decisions not to prosecute explains the objection.
A conviction does not itself order repayment. The criminal file returns money only through seized assets, repayment for effective repentance or a deferred judgment, or conciliation; otherwise you need a civil judgment. Under Articles 49 and 61 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, Law No. 6098, those who jointly cause damage by a culpable, unlawful act are jointly and severally liable, which can include an account holder whose involvement is proved. The claim may be filed where the act was committed, where the damage occurred or at the victim's domicile (Article 16 of Law No. 6100), and under Article 74 of Law No. 6098 the civil judge is not bound by an acquittal. A foreign claimant must give security for costs unless exempted on the basis of reciprocity (Article 48 of the Code on Private International and Procedural Law, Law No. 5718). Our article on recovering funds from investment scammers applies this to crypto schemes.
| Type of Fraud | First Steps |
|---|---|
| Property deposit or price taken | Check the title deed record, keep receipts, file, request seizure and an injunction |
| Fake rental or holiday let | Screenshot the listing, report it to the platform, call your bank, file |
| Investment or crypto scam | Stop paying, preserve wallet data, ask the exchange to block the account |
| Online purchase never delivered | Dispute the card payment, keep the order page, file |
| Romance scam | Export the chat, list every transfer, file against the receiving accounts |
| Business partner or manager | Secure company and bank records, file, sue with attachment |
| Caller posing as police or bank staff | Call your bank, block cards and online banking, file |
See also our guide to avoiding accommodation scams and our article on how to block 0850 numbers and report cybercrime.
Simple fraud carries 1 to 5 years and qualified fraud 3 to 10 years, with at least 4 years where banks or information systems are used.
Yes. A complaint is required only under Article 159 and for certain relatives under Article 167(2).
Withdrawal does not end the case, but repayment reduces the penalty, and in simple fraud conciliation can close the file.
Criminal limitation is 8 or 15 years, but the civil claim can expire after 2 years and money moves within days.
Yes, through a Turkish lawyer holding a power of attorney signed at a consulate or apostilled abroad.
The law does not require one, and the bar does not appoint one for victims of ordinary fraud, but a lawyer can file in Turkish and attend hearings for you.
No. Under Article 128(9) of Law No. 5271 only a judge may order the seizure of bank accounts.
No; repayment comes through seized assets, repayment incentives, conciliation or a civil judgment.
Participation gives you party status at hearings and secures your right to appeal under Articles 234 and 260 of Law No. 5271.
Object to the criminal judgeship of peace within two weeks of service (Article 173).
Yes, if you prove their involvement, since joint wrongdoers are jointly and severally liable under Article 61 of Law No. 6098.
Usually yes, typically qualified fraud under Article 158(1)(f), with a minimum of four years.
Fraud under Articles 157 and 158 of the Turkish Penal Code is prosecuted ex officio, carries up to ten years in its qualified forms and is tried by the criminal courts of first instance. The criminal file identifies account holders and allows seizure of their accounts, but the money is recovered through returned assets, repayment incentives or a civil claim with a much shorter limitation period.
If you were defrauded in Türkiye or by someone operating from Türkiye, the first days decide what can still be traced. To have the complaint, the seizure requests and the civil claim prepared together, contact our legal team.
For complaints about a public authority, our guide to CIMER applications in Türkiye explains what CIMER can and cannot do.
