Forex Scam Victims: Legal Steps and Checks in Türkiye

📌 What Can Forex Victims Do?

🔍 Checking Whether the Firm Is SPK-Licensed

The licence of a forex firm can be checked at the following address:

🔗 SPK Licensed Brokerage Firms

If the firm is not on this list, the investment may have fallen victim to fraudsters. Other ways of telling whether a forex firm is legal:

• ✅ A legal forex firm accepts investments into the account of a JOINT-STOCK COMPANY with capital of at least 50 million Turkish lira.
• ✅ The maximum leverage is 1:10.
• ✅ For a first-time investor, it must offer a demo account.
• ✅ Framework agreements are signed with the investor so that the investor is informed about very high market risks (in forex investments such as VİOP (the Borsa Istanbul derivatives market), when the account goes negative the investor can face enforcement threats at legal forex firms).
• ✅ An account is opened in which the investor can see their Takasbank account through e-Devlet (the e-government portal).

⚠️ What a Forex Victim Can Do After Realising They Invested With an Illegal or Foreign Forex Firm

The records usually requested include all documents relating to the payments, kept so that none is lost, and the bank receipts in PDF form obtained from the bank.

📌 Checks by Type of Transfer

• 🏦 If the transfer was made to a limited company: the company details can be queried at MERSİS Query (the Central Registry System), and a screenshot of the result is usually kept.
• 💳 If the payment was made to an electronic money institution: its legal status can be checked at Central Bank Electronic Money Institutions.
• 🔗 If the payment was made in Tether (USDT): the records usually requested are the transfer screens and the wallet address.
• 👤 If the payment was made directly to an individual: the bank and branch details can be found through IBAN Resolver.

📸 How Evidence Is Gathered

• 📱 In WhatsApp conversations, the records usually requested include screenshots of the parts where the IBAN was sent to the investor and where the investor sent the receipt, with the dates visible. It is usual for the saved contact name to be removed from the phone's contacts before the screenshot is taken. The reason is that the name is false and the line is one whose registered holder is unknown.
• 📂 On Android: the whole conversation can be exported through the More option, using Export chat.
• 📂 On iPhone: the Export chat option is reached by tapping the number and scrolling to the bottom.
• 📷 A screenshot of the WhatsApp profile photo and phone number is usually included.
• 💻 The records usually requested also include screenshots of the pages where your first name and surname appear on the trading screens (Meta and similar), of the page where the transactions are made (the money in/out screen), and of the login details if there are any.

⚖️ What Sets Savun Law Apart in Forex Cases

• ⏳ A freezing order on bank accounts and on e-money/crypto accounts in Türkiye may be requested at an early stage.
• 📑 Strengthening the prosecution side with the forex fraud cases followed for years in prosecutor's office complaints, including 10 indictments and 1 organised fraud case; submitting all information and documents to the prosecutor's office in full so that an indictment is drawn up; meeting the prosecutor's office once a month to obtain information; and, in settlement and mediation, seeking the US dollar equivalent of the loss together with statutory interest.
• 💰 Cost-conscious enforcement proceedings.
• 🚨 Telling the investor which firms are already subject to attachments, so that the investor can avoid unnecessary legal costs (because our office takes on many forex cases, complaints about similar firms often reach us).
• For a forex victim who realises they have been defrauded, recovery may be possible, depending on the circumstances of the case. For further details, you can contact our office and learn about meeting appointments or the conditions for working remotely. Savun Law works with forex victims under a written agreement. (Court costs are borne by the investor; offers to the contrary are not entertained.)

📢 How a Forex Victim Can Choose a Lawyer

🧐 Checking the Lawyer's Bar Registration

🔎 Union of Turkish Bar Associations Lawyer Search

🔎 Istanbul Bar Association Lawyer Roll

When issuing a general power of attorney for lawsuits, notaries check whether the lawyer you appoint is registered with a Bar Association. A cooperation protocol exists between the Union of Turkish Notaries (TNB) and the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB).

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📍 Verifying the Office Address and Physical Presence

To confirm that a lawyer's office physically exists, an acquaintance can be asked to visit it or a video appointment can be requested.

👥 Asking About the Lawyer's Working Team

Forex fraud cases require careful work. For the process to run smoothly, the office should have at least:

• 👨‍⚖️ 1 criminal lawyer
• 👨‍⚖️ 1 civil lawyer
• 📞 1 secretary

on staff.

📜 Asking for Previous Results and Sample Cases

From the lawyer, the following are requested: civil court precautionary attachment decisions and enforcement proceedings previously concluded, indictments, High Criminal Court decisions, and release documents covering mediation in civil law and settlement in criminal cases.

📞 If You Are a Forex Victim

If you think you have been exposed to forex fraud, professional support is available to look into whether the loss can be pursued.

📌 Information about the lawsuit process is available from Savun Law. For detailed information and legal support, you can contact Savun Law & Consultancy.