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Police detained eight suspects Tuesday in operations across three provinces against a criminal group accused of stealing the phones of people they met through the dating app Tinder and draining their bank accounts, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said.
The suspects, including one alleged ringleader and seven alleged members, were detained in simultaneous raids in Ankara, Kastamonu and Sirnak, according to the statement.
The suspects met victims on Tinder under the pretext of friendship, then arranged meetings where they learned the victims' phone passwords by taking advantage of moments of distraction and stole their phones, the prosecutor’s office said.
The suspects then accessed the victims' bank accounts through the stolen phones and transferred money to third-party accounts.
The group carried out such acts in five provinces, withdrawing the transferred money into their personal accounts and splitting it among themselves, according to the investigation.
The probe was conducted by the Ankara Police Department’s theft bureau under investigation file 2026/48809. Police seized a large amount of digital material during searches at the addresses.
The amount stolen and the number of victims were not disclosed.
"The investigation is being carried out in a multifaceted and meticulous manner," the prosecutor’s office said, as the Tinder theft probe continues.
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