Police in Istanbul launched simultaneous raids at addresses in 42 provinces early on Friday against suspects accused of obtaining people’s personal information without authorisation and selling it, according to Anadolu Agency (AA), İHA and BirGün.
The operation was carried out by the Istanbul Police Department’s Cybercrime Unit under the coordination of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, AA and İHA reported. Searches and detentions were still continuing at the time of the first reports, and the authorities had not published a final figure for the number of people detained.
Data sold in messaging groups
According to the reports, the suspects gained unauthorised access to personal data and then shared it or offered it for sale for a fee. İHA and BirGün said the data was sold in groups on a messaging application. The information included bank and credit card details, according to AA, İHA and BirGün.
Investigators found that some of the data was used for threats and blackmail, particularly in connection with incidents that had caused public outrage, AA and İHA reported.
AI-supported "AVCI" tool
AA and İHA said investigators used an artificial intelligence-supported application called AVCI ("Hunter") in the investigation. The reports did not give technical details of how the tool works.
Earlier police operations reported on this site include raids over fake car rental websites and fake TOKİ housing application sites.
Sources
- İstanbul merkezli 42 ilde "kişisel verileri" ele geçirenlere operasyon (Anadolu Ajansı)
- Yapay zeka destekli Avcı Projesi devrede! 42 ilde siber suç operasyonu (Türkinform / İHA)
- 42 ilde ‘kişisel veri’ operasyonu (BirGün)
Photo: SegLig / CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
