2025.12.25 16:10
Irfan Sezgin, 56, a resident of Sakarya, believed a fake investment video created by President Erdoğan using artificial intelligence. He initially sent the money, but then fell victim to individuals using the names BAYKAR and Türkiye Petrolleri who deceived him with promises of “returning the money”, resulting in a total loss of around 2.5 million lire.
In Sakarya, Irfan Sezgin, who invested by believing in a fake image of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan created by artificial intelligence, lost a total of 2.5 million lire, first his original funds and then money to callers who promised to get his funds back. “They are trying to use artificial intelligence to play with people's emotions to undermine and devalue the president of our country. Everyone turned against me, including my children and relatives,” said Sezgin, the victim.
The incident allegedly began when 56-year-old Irfan Sezgin discovered on social media an investment video produced by artificial intelligence that imitated Erdogan's voice and image. By clicking on a link in the video and sharing personal information, Sezgin transferred a certain amount of money in the first stage. But the scam didn't end there.
In hopes of recovering the lost money, Mr. Sezgin was subsequently contacted by individuals using the names BAYKAR and Türkiye Petrolleri. Deceived by the promise that “we will help you get your money back,'' Sezgin ended up making additional payments of about 2.5 million lire over time and accumulating more debt. The victim, Sezgin, filed a complaint against the scammers.
“The scammers contacted me in an organized manner.”
Irfan Sezgin explained the process he went through and warned the public against such methods. Sezgin said, “Scammers have been systematically contacting me. They have deceived me by telling various lies about remittances. My wife has both prosthetic legs and cannot walk on the road. They said they would buy her a proper car and put things in place, but unfortunately now she is in a dire situation. She is not even receiving her salary.''
“They put me into a debt of about 2.5 million lire.”
“After this incident, I received a call from a scammer using the name BAYKAR, who promised to cooperate and defrauded me of 104,000 TL. After that, I received a call from a woman using the name Turkiye Petroleli, who made various promises and defrauded me of approximately 150,000 TL,” said Sezgin, who believed in an AI video that appeared to be of President Erdoğan and sent money to the link he opened. They said they would help, so they put me into a debt of about 2.5 million liras, first 100,000 liras, then 250,000 liras. ”
“We wanted a house and a car.”
Irfan Sezgin said, “They are using artificial intelligence to play with people's emotions to undermine our president and undermine his worth.The public should never believe this.''After this fraud incident, I went to the hospital two or three times. My wife started having panic attacks and the peace and order of the family was disrupted. Everyone, including my children and relatives, turned against me. We just wanted a house and a car.
