ISTANBUL, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police have detained 259 suspects in nationwide operations targeting cybercrimes across 37 provinces over the past five days, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Monday.
Yerlikaya said on social media platform X that the operations were carried out as part of efforts to combat cybercrime, including aggravated fraud, online child sexual abuse and harassment, and illegal betting.
According to the minister, of the 259 suspects detained, 131 have been formally arrested, while 66 were released under judicial control. Legal proceedings against the remainder are ongoing.
He said the suspects were involved in a range of illegal activities, including defrauding citizens through social media platforms and phishing websites by using schemes such as product sales scams, account rentals, fake property sales, and vehicle rental fraud.
The suspects were also found to have gained unauthorized access to mobile banking and online gaming accounts, organized and facilitated illegal betting and gambling, acted as intermediaries for money transfers on illegal betting sites, promoted such platforms, and hosted child sexual abuse material, according to official statements. ■
