The Cybercrime Unit of the Istanbul Police Department uses a program called “Avcı” to monitor groups on social media and detect indicators linked to illegal betting and digital crimes. Police say the tool, developed with the support of artificial intelligence, helped reach suspected groups and identify criminal activities, while the findings are supplemented by digital analysis and financial investigations.
The unit operates around the clock through virtual patrols and reviews of reports and complaints, in addition to monitoring operations it initiates independently. Sources of evidence include social media accounts, websites, messaging applications, bank-account activity, and cryptocurrency wallets. Investigations focus on cyber fraud, illegal betting and gambling, criminal proceeds, online child exploitation, and information-technology crimes.
Fraud and Betting Operation Figures
In 2025, cyber-fraud operations resulted in the detention of 619 suspects, 449 of whom were imprisoned by judicial decisions, according to the data included in the report. During 2026, 22 operations were conducted against fraud networks, seven of them targeting call centers and financial offices operating internationally. The operations also targeted 13 fraud networks, and authorities imposed seizure measures on assets estimated at approximately 4 billion Turkish lira, including four companies, 15 gas stations, and one currency-exchange office.
In the illegal-betting file, police carried out 13 operations during 2025 that resulted in the detention of 504 suspects, 266 of whom were imprisoned. Separate operations also covered betting-related advertising, foreign financing offices, and the laundering of proceeds generated by this activity. In 2026, 12 operations were conducted against betting, resulting in the detention of 255 people, 188 of whom were imprisoned, while other operations targeted advertising promoters, financing offices, and proceeds transfers.
Scale of Assets and Digital Measures
Police say the value of assets subjected to seizure measures during the 2026 operations related to betting reached 5 billion, 652 million, 561 thousand, and 867 Turkish lira. During 2025 and 2026, 103 operations were conducted against illegal-betting activities and the assets derived from them, and the value of assets subject to measures reached 14 billion, 392 million, 932 thousand, and 867 lira. Access was also blocked to 150,795 URLs linked to illegal-betting websites.
According to a statement by police officer Engin Dali, the “Avcı” program helped identify 138 suspects during 2026; they were arrested, and 104 of them were ordered imprisoned. The report did not explain which artificial-intelligence model was used, the nature of the data it processes, or the level of human oversight before monitoring results were converted into judicial action.
What Changes in Practice?
The case reveals the integration of open-web monitoring with digital-evidence and financial-activity analysis instead of relying solely on tracking individual accounts or websites. This matters in cases involving closed groups, multiple accounts, and the transfer of funds to encrypted wallets. However, the published figures describe the results of police operations and, on their own, do not provide an independent measurement of “Avcı’s” accuracy or false-positive rate. Questions concerning transparency, data protection, and how the tool’s results are admitted before judicial authorities therefore remain open.
Alongside the operations, police conduct awareness programs through the “SİBERAY” project for students, teachers, parents, and public- and private-sector employees on safe internet use, cyberbullying, fraud, illegal betting, and the protection of personal data.