Hong Kong woman loses $2.5 million in Istanbul-linked fraud

A woman living in Hong Kong was defrauded of $2.5 million during a two-year virtual relationship with a fake profile posing as an American businessman. Part of the money was traced to accounts in Turkey, and 6 suspects have been referred to court in Istanbul.

Scraper SystemJune 17, 2026, 06:25 PM

Hong Kong woman loses $2.5 million in Istanbul-linked fraud

A 57-year-old woman living in Hong Kong trusted a fake account named 'Richard' for two years, which she met on a dating site and which pretended to be American. On the request of the scammer who said he would invest, the woman sent a total of $2.5 million, and when she realized the truth, she experienced the shock of her life. In the international investigation launched, it was revealed that millions of dollars were transferred to accounts in Turkey.

Siu P. Y. F., who is understood to live in Hong Kong, met someone on an online dating site in 2020 who introduced himself as an American businessman and said his name was Richard. The friendship between the two, who talked on the phone, progressed quickly. The couple, who only talked on the phone for years, decided to get married. After a while, the suspect called Siu P. Y. F., said he had come to Istanbul and was going to make an investment, and that he needed money. Believing this lie, Siu P. Y. F. sent a total of $2.5 million to the bank accounts sent to her between 2020 and 2022. However, after a while, unable to reach the person she expected to marry by phone, Siu P. Y. F. reported to the Hong Kong police that she had been defrauded and filed a complaint.

Hong Kong police asked Turkish police for help when they could not catch the suspect

While the Hong Kong police launched an investigation into the incident, they could not make progress despite working for a long time. Giving up hope from the Hong Kong police, Siu P. Y. F. appointed a lawyer and this time applied to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

It was revealed that the person known as American Richard was actually Kingsley from Nigeria

Upon the complaint of the Hong Kong dentist, an investigation was launched by the Fraud Bureau Directorate. In their work, the police monitored the bank accounts to which the woman sent money. In the investigation, 5 suspects who owned the accounts to which the money was sent were detained. While 4 of these people said they did not remember the incident, it was learned that 1 suspect gave the money that came to his account to a Nigerian person whose name he knew as Richard. Following this development, police teams quickly caught Kingsley O., a Nigerian national who introduced himself as Richard.

Suspects referred to court

Kingsley O., who gave a statement at the Public Order Branch Directorate, did not accept the accusations regarding the incident. While the investigation into the incident continues in multiple directions, 6 suspects were referred to court after their procedures.

'They took money amounting to 120 million lira'

Lawyer Ilker Atamer, the attorney of dentist Siu P. Y. F., said: "The start date of this fraud case goes back to 2020. Our client is a dentist and a woman living in Hong Kong. There is a person she met online during a period when she was in an emotional void. This person introduces himself as an American businessman and uses fake profile pictures belonging to others. Our client did not believe it immediately, but after a long period of correspondence lasting days and weeks, trust began to form, and our client developed emotional closeness and a virtual relationship began.

"In the following period, the scammers, without rushing, slowly weaving their nets, patiently began to deceive our client with various fake documents and some lies, and gradually, at the end of a 2-year period, they took money amounting to the equivalent of 120 million lira today. They took part of this money as cryptocurrency, and part of it as transfers to 8 different bank accounts in Turkey. We do not know whether the main scammer, the one who actually did these things and deceived, has been caught yet.

"However, as a result of the truly admirable work of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and the Istanbul Public Order Branch Directorate, at least the people who took this money into their own accounts and were accomplices of the scammer have been caught. We expect an arrest warrant to be issued for them today."

'One suspect wanted to compensate our client's loss'

Lawyer Ilker Atamer said: "The number of people caught is 8 as far as I know. One of these caught people said he wanted to benefit from effective remorse and compensate our client's loss in this regard, our meeting with him continues. In fraud crimes, if the person who committed the fraud returns the defrauded money and compensates the client's loss, 2/3 of the penalty is automatically reduced by law, and the risk of arrest is also eliminated. We think this legal regulation also motivates scammers to pay back the money they defrauded in such fraud crimes. There are a total of 8 suspects in this fraud case.

"3 of these 8 suspects took this money into their personal accounts. The other 5 took it through companies in which they were partners, some of these companies are automotive, some are jewelry, some are real estate. Therefore, since this money was collected through the companies they were partners in, they have automatically become suspects."

'My advice to those trying to make friends online: end the conversation when there is a request for money'

Ilker Atamer said: "The total amount defrauded is over $2.5 million. A criminal inquiry will be conducted for these people today, and we think they will be arrested. My general advice for people trying to make friends online is this: they should always approach people they meet online with suspicion, not believe everything they are told, and directly end the conversation when there is any request for money. That is my general advice. This is a social media app called 'Inner Circle.' Our client met him through that. But such fraud incidents generally occur through applications like Instagram, Telegram, and on marriage sites."

Hong Kong woman loses $2.5 million in Istanbul-linked fraud