Cybercriminals Turn 'Request Payment' Feature Into Deposit Trap

The 'Request Payment' feature offered in banks' mobile applications becomes a tool to trap citizens posting vehicle and property listings when it falls into the hands of cybercriminals. In a statement to the Anadolu Agency, Forensic Digital Expert Prof. Dr. Ali Murat Kırık explained how the system works as follows: The fraudster sends a 'Request Payment' to the person who posted the listing, saying 'Let me deposit a down payment'; the moment the seller approves the notification, money is withdrawn from their account.

The number of victims explaining on social media that they were defrauded using this method is growing rapidly; comments under these posts point to how widespread similar cases are.

Kırık's warning is clear: Never approve 'Request Payment' notifications from people you don't know; do not proceed with a transaction without verifying the other party's real identity and the authenticity of the listing. Although this type of fraud has concentrated particularly in Turkey's used vehicle and rental property markets, there is no publicly available centralized victim statistics for it yet in the country.