You might find yourself in prison while trying to do a favor

"He who does good finds good", "Do a good deed and throw it into the sea; if the fish doesn't know, the Creator knows". Almost all of us know these proverbs.

Of course, there is also the proverb "No good deed goes unpunished". It is a cautionary saying used to express that people's good intentions are open to being exploited or misinterpreted. What we are about to write describes exactly this.

We must be careful when doing favors. There is one type of favor that, if you do it, could land you in prison.

If a friend or acquaintance says to you, "My accounts have been blocked, I filed a lawsuit but God knows how many months it will take to open, my accounts have been seized, my account limits are full; would it be an imposition if we used yours?", your answer is very important.

If you say "Yes" and let them use your accounts, you could find yourself in prison. How, you ask?

We asked Attorney Ümit Karadağ about this. See what Karadağ had to say...

"Fraudsters are developing new ways and tactics every day to avoid getting caught in their actions. When these individuals decide which paths and methods to use during the preparation phase of committing a crime, they also follow how the police solved similar cases in the past. Just as technological products like the phones and computers we use are developed with new features and corresponding updates, these people who commit or prepare to commit crimes are also updating themselves."

Those who commit fraud actively use technology. Fraudsters create new victims by using bank or crypto exchange accounts, especially alongside the victims from whom they have already taken money. We previously pointed out in our article titled "Their new targets are 18-year-olds" that these victims are especially in the 18-year-old age group. Because the lack of life experience in people of this age is seen as very attractive by fraudsters for them to be deceived. However, it is clearly seen from the incidents that have occurred that similar victims are being created not only from young and inexperienced age groups but also from other age groups.

"In the cases we have experienced, fraudsters first appear reputable by dazzling people with luxury meals, cars, etc., which are considered indicators of wealth, in order to gain the trust of the people whose accounts they want to use. As the intimacy progresses, they engage in fraudulent and deceptive behaviors, deceiving people with statements like “My accounts have been blocked, I filed a lawsuit but God knows how many months it will take to open, my accounts have been seized, my account limits are full; would it be an imposition if we used yours?” and using their account information. They even define what are called 'potato lines'—lines that do not belong to the real person or user—to their bank accounts and use the accounts as they wish.

Even if the victim does not know this situation, they never believe they will commit a crime. Or rather, they do not even suspect it. That is, until the accounts in question are used in a crime and the victim of that crime applies to the prosecutor's office. This is when the process begins where life turns into a living hell for those who let their accounts be used.

Because it is not easy to prove one's innocence.

Judicial authorities consider them complicit in the crime and impose very long prison sentences. In a similar case, my 21-year-old client, whose account was used, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and a 12 million [TL] judicial fine for just a single act. In this incident, a cryptocurrency account was used, and the crypto assets there were withdrawn using what is called a cold wallet, and an attempt was made to erase the trail."

If you do not want to end up in prison like this young person, do not have money sent to your account as a favor or in exchange for a commission.