Vehicle fraud and social media advertising crackdowns in TR

Law enforcement in Turkey is investigating cases involving ‘change’ vehicles, which are automobiles with altered identification or chassis numbers. In one instance, a resident of Kocaeli had a legally purchased BMW seized by authorities due to suspicions that the vehicle was stolen or had its identification tampered with, despite the owner having completed all official notary and tax procedures. Investigations have revealed broader illegal operations where vehicles subject to seizure or arrest warrants are sold through social media groups to avoid legal auctions. These schemes involve debtors selling high-value assets at significant discounts to intermediaries. To facilitate these sales, unauthorized workshops reportedly perform ‘change’ tactics by transferring chassis numbers from scrapped vehicles to seized ones, or by stripping the vehicles for parts.

In response to unregulated digital commerce, the Turkish Ministry of Trade has intensified its crackdown on fraudulent advertising. During the first half of 2026, the Ministry conducted inspections of 4,704 firms, issuing 8.6 million TL in fines for unsafe products in sectors such as textiles, furniture, and children’s toys. Regarding digital commerce, the Ministry has also targeted fraudulent social media listings. A total of 82 businesses—including 40 automotive galleries and 42 real estate agencies—were fined 8.2 million TL for violating regulations on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. These businesses failed to comply with the Electronic Advertisement Verification System (EİDS), which requires identity and authority verification for listings. To enforce compliance, the Ministry announced that Meta will block access to social media accounts found to be posting non-compliant advertisements. Authorities are specifically targeting posts that hide pricing information with phrases such as ‘Price for DM’ or ‘DM for price’. Under EİDS, businesses must provide clear pricing and verified advertisement links.