Cybercriminals Turn 'Request Payment' Feature into Deposit Trap

The 'Request Payment' feature offered in banks' mobile applications has become a tool for cybercriminals to ensnare citizens posting vehicle and property ads. Digital Forensics Expert Prof. Dr. Ali Murat Kırık explained the mechanism to Anadolu Agency as follows: A fraudster sends a payment request to the person posting the ad, saying 'let me deposit a down payment'; the moment the seller approves the notification, money is withdrawn from their account.

The number of victims reporting being defrauded through this method on social media is rising rapidly; comments beneath posts point to the prevalence of similar cases.

Kırık's warning is clear: Never approve payment request notifications from people you do not know; do not proceed with transactions without verifying the other party's true identity and the accuracy of the listing. Although this type of fraud has concentrated particularly in the used vehicle and rental property markets in Turkey, there is no centralized victim statistics publicly available yet.