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NOPE
Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

Turkey: police say a ring used AI-made fake videos with investment promises to defraud 33 people of about 15 million lira; six suspects remanded

On 30 January 2026 two Turkish news agencies, Anadolu Agency (AA) and Ihlas News Agency (IHA), reported a police operation by the Yozgat anti-smuggling and organised-crime unit. According to the AA account, the unit began work after allegations on social media of fraud carried out with artificial intelligence, and established that 33 people had been defrauded of about 15 million lira through fake videos created with AI that used the names of some institutions and organisations, together with promises of investment returns. Nine suspects were detained in simultaneous operations centred on Yozgat and extending to Antalya, Hatay and Ankara; a court remanded six in custody and released three under judicial supervision. The reports do not describe what the videos showed, name the institutions whose names were used, identify the AI tool, or say when the fraud took place. No victim is interviewed and no suspect's response is reported.

AI system
Unidentified video tool
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
30 January 2026
Event location
Türkiye
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Financial Loss
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Finance
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources
3 claims: 3 reported. 6 open questions
People reported harmed
33 people

AI system as recorded: Fake videos that, according to the police account relayed by Anadolu Agency and Ihlas News Agency, the suspects created with artificial intelligence using the names of some institutions and organisations; no tool is named.

Reported harm

According to the police findings relayed by AA, 33 people lost a combined total of about 15 million Turkish lira to an investment fraud carried out through AI-created fake videos. Individual losses and any further effects on the victims are not reported.

Outcome

Pending

Nine suspects were detained in operations in Yozgat, Antalya, Hatay and Ankara; after referral to the courthouse, a duty criminal judgeship remanded six in custody and released three under judicial-control conditions. No indictment or trial is reported in the inspected sources.

What remains unknown

  • What the fake videos showed, whose names or likenesses they used, and which institutions were named.
  • When the fraud took place; the reports give only the 30 January 2026 operation report.
  • Which AI tool produced the videos.
  • Individual losses and where the victims live.
  • Whether exactly 33 or about 33 people were defrauded; the AA copy states 33 and the IHA copy says about 33 in one sentence.
  • Any response from the suspects and the outcome of the prosecution.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The police account relayed by AA says the suspects defrauded 33 people with "yapay zekayla oluşturulan sahte videolarla" (fake videos created with artificial intelligence) that used the names of some institutions, together with investment promises; the IHA copy says the suspects defrauded them with videos they produced with AI. The AI-created fake videos, which according to the AA copy used the names of some institutions and organisations, are the material through which the victims were deceived, and the police connect them directly to the losses. What the videos showed and which tool made them are not reported.

3 claims: 3 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Police established that 33 people were defrauded of about 15 million lira through fake videos created with artificial intelligence that used the names of some institutions and organisations, together with investment promises.

Causal attribution. The police findings as relayed by two news agencies; both copies rest on the same police information, so the claim is one origin and stays reported. Neither describes the videos further.

  • benguturk.com(opens in new tab) supports · Turkish
    'Bu kapsamda, bazı kurum ve kuruluşların isimleri kullanılarak yapay zekayla oluşturulan sahte videolarla, yatırım vaadiyle 33 kişinin yaklaşık 15 milyon lira dolandırıldığı tespit edildi.'
  • ntv.com.tr(opens in new tab) supports · Turkish
    'Yozgat'ta ürettikleri yapay zeka videoları ile 33 kişiyi yaklaşık 15 milyon lira dolandıran şüpheliler yakalandı.'
Reported The investigation began after allegations on social media of fraud carried out with artificial intelligence.

Causal attribution. The AA copy of the police information.

  • benguturk.com(opens in new tab) supports · Turkish
    'Kaçakçılık ve Organize Suçlarla Mücadele Şubesi ekipleri, sosyal medyadan yapay zekayla dolandırıcılık iddiaları üzerine çalışma başlattı.'
Reported Nine suspects were detained in simultaneous operations centred on Yozgat and extending to Antalya, Hatay and Ankara; a court remanded six in custody and released three under judicial supervision.

Causal attribution. Police and court outcome as relayed by both agencies from the same official information.

  • benguturk.com(opens in new tab) supports · Turkish
    'Yozgat merkezli Antalya, Hatay ve Ankara'da düzenlenen operasyonda 9 zanlı gözaltına alındı.' and '6'sı çıkarıldıkları nöbetçi hakimlikçe tutuklandı, 3'ü adli kontrolle serbest bırakıldı.'
  • ntv.com.tr(opens in new tab) supports · Turkish
    'gözaltına alınan şüphelilerden 6'sı çıkarıldıkları mahkemece tutuklanarak cezaevine gönderilirken, 3'ü ise adli kontrol şartıyla serbest bırakıldı.'

Sources

2 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Turkish and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-11; no human reviewer inspected the text. Bengütürk publishes the Anadolu Agency copy (credited "Kaynak: AA"); Türkgün carries the same AA text and was read but not cited. Applies to s1.

Read in Turkish from an Internet Archive capture (20260131171103) because the live page returned HTTP 403, and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-11; no human reviewer inspected the text. NTV credits Ihlas News Agency (IHA); Nefes carries the same IHA text. Applies to s2.

Event countries: Türkiye. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: Türkiye.

The investigation was run by the Yozgat police and the suspects were detained in Yozgat, Antalya, Hatay and Ankara and brought before a Turkish court, which places the operation and proceedings in Turkey. Where the 33 victims live is not stated, so affected_person_countries is left empty.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-11: Published on the Yozgat police findings relayed by Anadolu Agency and Ihlas News Agency: the police say the suspects defrauded 33 people of about 15 million lira through fake videos created with artificial intelligence and investment promises, and a court remanded six of nine suspects. The AI-created videos are the described AI output and the police connect them to the victims' losses. All claims stay reported because both agencies relay one police account and the videos themselves are not described.

People described

Thirty-three people defrauded through the fake investment videos, per the police account; none is named or described further.

People reported harmed in this case

33 people

0 AI participants · 33 other people harmed

The police finding relayed by AA states that "33 kişinin" (33 people) were established ("tespit edildi") to have been defrauded of about 15 million lira; the approximation applies to the amount. The IHA copy on NTV uses 33 in its lead but writes "yaklaşık 33 kişiyi" (about 33 people) in its second paragraph, so the agencies differ on whether 33 is approximate; the count is recorded as the police figure of 33 with that discrepancy stated here. Suspects are not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#ai-generated-video#investment-fraud#financial-loss#police-operation#turkey

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Turkey: police say a ring used AI-made fake videos with investment promises to defraud 33 people of about 15 million lira; six suspects remanded. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-turkey-yozgat-police-say-ai-made-fake-videos-used-in-investment-fraud-of-33-people

BibTeX

@misc{2026_turkey_yozgat_police_say_ai_made_fake_videos_used_in_investment_fraud_of_33_people,
  title = {Turkey: police say a ring used AI-made fake videos with investment promises to defraud 33 people of about 15 million lira; six suspects remanded},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-turkey-yozgat-police-say-ai-made-fake-videos-used-in-investment-fraud-of-33-people}
}

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