Bank or Credit Card Misuse in Türkiye: what TCK 245 covers and what happens next

TCK 245 punishes three kinds of conduct: using a bank or credit card that belongs to someone else without the consent of the cardholder, or of the person to whom the card should have been given, to obtain a benefit (TCK 245/1); producing, selling, transferring, buying or accepting a counterfeit card linked to other people's bank accounts (TCK 245/2); and obtaining a benefit by using a card that was made counterfeit or was forged (TCK 245/3). Each paragraph carries its own range of imprisonment and judicial fine (adlî para cezası), and paragraphs 4 and 5 add a relatives exemption and effective remorse for the offence in paragraph 1.

The table sets out the five paragraphs in the order of the Code, together with TCK 245/A, which was added in 2016 and deals with devices and programs.

The article sits in the chapter of the Penal Code headed offences in the field of information technology (bilişim alanında suçlar, TCK 243-246). For the wider picture of deception offences, see fraud charges in Türkiye.

Under TCK 245/1, the offence requires four things in the text: a bank or credit card that belongs to another person; that the person obtained it, in whatever way, or holds it; that they used it or had it used without the consent of the cardholder or of the person to whom the card should have been given; and that a benefit was obtained for themselves or for someone else. The penalty is three to six years' imprisonment and a judicial fine of up to five thousand days.

How the card was obtained. The words "in whatever way" (her ne suretle olursa olsun) mean that the paragraph does not specify how the card came into the person's hands; the elements that follow are what the text requires. The paragraph does not itself say what happens where the way the card was taken is a separate offence; that is a question of legal classification for the prosecutor and the court.

Consent. The paragraph turns on the absence of consent of two persons: the cardholder, and the person to whom the card should have been given. Where there is a dispute over whether the cardholder agreed to a payment, the messages, the account statements and the circumstances of the payment can be among the material from which the prosecutor and the court assess consent. The Code does not set a list of evidence for this, and this note does not either.

The relatives exemption. Under TCK 245/4, where the offence in paragraph 1 is committed to the detriment of (a) a spouse in respect of whom no decision of separation has been given, (b) an ascendant or descendant, an in-law of the same degree, an adoptive parent or an adopted child, or (c) a sibling living in the same home, no penalty is imposed on the relative concerned. The paragraph is worded for the offence in paragraph 1; it does not mention paragraphs 2 and 3. It also contains no reduction for other relatives, unlike TCK 167/2, which provides a half reduction, on complaint, for certain other relatives listed there in the offences against property chapter, a chapter to which TCK 245 does not belong.

Paragraph 2 concerns trading in counterfeit cards; paragraph 3 concerns using one. Under TCK 245/2, a person who produces, sells, transfers, buys or accepts a counterfeit bank or credit card linked to other people's bank accounts is liable to three to seven years' imprisonment and a judicial fine of up to ten thousand days. Under TCK 245/3, a person who obtains a benefit for themselves or another by using a card that was made counterfeit or on which forgery was committed is liable to four to eight years' imprisonment and a judicial fine of up to five thousand days, unless the act constitutes another offence requiring a heavier penalty.

Paragraph 2 does not mention use. TCK 245/2 lists five acts (produce, sell, transfer, buy, accept), and its wording does not require that the card was used or that a benefit was obtained. Its one further element is that the counterfeit card is linked to other people's bank accounts (başkalarına ait banka hesaplarıyla ilişkilendirilerek).

Paragraph 3 has a subsidiarity clause. The words "unless the act constitutes another offence requiring a heavier penalty" mean that TCK 245/3 gives way where the same act falls under an article with a heavier penalty. TCK 158/1 is one article to read alongside it: qualified fraud committed by using information systems, banks or credit institutions as a tool (TCK 158/1(f)) carries three to ten years' imprisonment and a judicial fine of up to five thousand days, and for paragraph (f) the lower limit of imprisonment cannot be less than four years and the judicial fine cannot be less than twice the benefit obtained from the offence. Which article fits a given act is decided on the facts in the file.

Devices and programs. Under TCK 245/A, added by Law No. 6698 in 2016, where a device, computer program, password or other security code is made or created exclusively for committing the offences in the information technology chapter or other offences that can be committed by using information systems, a person who makes, imports, ships, transports, stores, accepts, sells, offers for sale, buys, gives to others or possesses it is liable to one to three years' imprisonment and a judicial fine of up to five thousand days. The word "exclusively" (münhasıran) is part of the offence.

Companies. Under TCK 246, security measures specific to legal persons are ordered against legal persons for whose benefit an unjust benefit was obtained through the commission of the offences in the chapter.

Handing over your own card. A different situation arises where a person gives their own card or account details to someone else who then uses them in a fraud. Under TCK 158/4, added by Law No. 7589 of 16 July 2026, where participation in the offences in TCK 157 and 158 is limited to the act of giving to another, in order to obtain an unjust benefit for oneself or another, payment instruments such as one's own or another's bank or credit card, or the information or tools necessary to use an account held at a bank, intermediary institution, payment service provider or crypto-asset service provider, the penalty is reduced by half. The paragraph refers to TCK 157 and 158; it does not mention TCK 245. See the TCK 158/4 half reduction and money mule accounts.

For the offence in paragraph 1, yes, under the conditions in TCK 168. Under TCK 245/5, added by Law No. 5560 in 2006, the effective remorse (etkin pişmanlık) provisions on offences against property apply to acts within paragraph 1. The paragraph names paragraph 1; it does not mention paragraphs 2 and 3.

What TCK 168 requires. Under TCK 168/1, where, after the offence is completed but before a prosecution (kovuşturma) is started against them for it, the offender, the instigator or the accessory personally shows remorse and fully remedies the victim's loss by returning the property itself or by compensation, the penalty is reduced by up to two-thirds. Under TCK 168/2, where effective remorse is shown after the prosecution has started but before judgment is given, the penalty is reduced by up to half. Under TCK 168/4, where the return or compensation is partial, the victim's consent is also required for the effective remorse provisions to apply.

Three points follow from the wording. The words "up to" (kadarı) leave the extent of the reduction to the court within the ceiling. The remedy must be made by the person personally (bizzat). And the stage at which the loss is remedied changes the ceiling, which is why the timing of any repayment is a point to discuss with a lawyer before it is made. The decision to repay is the client's; the related note repay now or fight it discusses the same choice in fraud files.

Reconciliation (uzlaştırma). CMK 253/1 lists the offences in which reconciliation between the suspect and the victim is attempted: (a) offences whose investigation and prosecution depend on a complaint; (b) a list of Penal Code offences regardless of complaint, which includes theft (TCK 141) and fraud (TCK 157) and does not include TCK 245 or qualified fraud under TCK 158; and (c) for children in the judicial process, offences carrying imprisonment or a judicial fine with an upper limit not exceeding three years, provided the victim or the person harmed is a natural person or a private-law legal person. The text of TCK 245 does not make the investigation subject to a complaint. Under the second sentence of CMK 253/3, where an offence within the reconciliation scope is committed together with an offence outside it against the same victim, the reconciliation provisions do not apply; the third sentence, added by Law No. 7571, makes an exception where the other offence falls within prepayment (önödeme). Whether reconciliation is available in a file is therefore read from the article the charge is brought under; more on criminal mediation in Türkiye.

Yes, for a limited period and on reasonable suspicion. Under CMK 128/A/1, added by Law No. 7571 of 24 December 2025, where there is reasonable suspicion (makul şüphe) that qualified theft through information systems (TCK 142/2(e)), qualified fraud under TCK 158/1(f) or (l), or misuse of bank or credit cards (TCK 245) has been committed, the bank, payment service provider or crypto-asset service provider may decide to suspend, for up to forty-eight hours, any account used in the offence that is the subject of transactions made or attempted at or through that institution.

Notice and challenge. Under CMK 128/A/2, the suspension and the account movements are reported immediately by the financial institution to the chief public prosecutor's office with all information and documents, and the suspension is also notified to the account holder. The account holder may apply to the chief public prosecutor's office for the suspension to be lifted, and the prosecutor decides on the application within twenty-four hours.

Seizure. Under CMK 128/A/4, the proceeds of the offence in an account suspended under paragraph 1, or suspended on the written order of the prosecutor, may be seized within the suspension period by decision of a judge or, where delay would be prejudicial, by written order of the prosecutor. A seizure made without a judge's decision is submitted to the competent judge for approval within twenty-four hours; the judge announces the decision within forty-eight hours of the seizure, failing which the seizure is lifted automatically. Under CMK 128/A/5, where the seized proceeds are found to belong to the victim, they are returned to their owner during the investigation or prosecution.

For a foreign account holder whose card or account appears in a transaction chain, the notification under CMK 128/A/2 may be the first sign that an investigation exists. The application to the prosecutor is a step the Code gives the account holder, and a lawyer can make it on their behalf.

After taking the measures needed to prevent escape or harm, the police inform an arrested person of their legal rights immediately (CMK 90/4), and before any statement you are told that you may remain silent about the accusation and may have a lawyer present (CMK 147/1(c) and (e)). If you do not speak Turkish well enough to express yourself, an interpreter is appointed (CMK 202/1 and 202/3), and under CMK 324/5 the interpreter's costs for a suspect who does not know Turkish are not counted as costs of proceedings and are met by the State Treasury.

Custody (gözaltı). Under CMK 91/1, a person arrested and not released by the prosecutor's office may be taken into custody for the investigation to be completed; custody may not exceed twenty-four hours from the moment of arrest, excluding the time needed to send the person to the nearest judge or court, which may not exceed twelve hours. Under CMK 91/3, for offences committed collectively, owing to difficulty in collecting evidence or the large number of suspects, the prosecutor may order in writing an extension of up to three days, not exceeding one day each time. Under CMK 91/5, the arrested person, their lawyer, legal representative, spouse or a first- or second-degree blood relative may apply to the criminal judge of peace (sulh ceza hâkimi) against the arrest, the custody or its extension to secure immediate release, and the judge decides before twenty-four hours have passed.

The lawyer. Under CMK 149/1, a suspect may have the assistance of one or more lawyers at every stage of the investigation and prosecution, and under CMK 149/3, the lawyer's right to meet the suspect, to be present during the statement or questioning and to give legal assistance cannot be prevented or restricted. Under CMK 150/1, a suspect who states that they are not in a position to choose a lawyer is given one on request. CMK 150/3 provides for appointment without a request, for a suspect who has no lawyer, where the offence carries imprisonment with a lower limit of more than five years; the lower limits in TCK 245/1, 245/2 and 245/3 are three, three and four years. Under CMK 147/1(d), subject to article 95, a relative of your choice is informed of the arrest immediately.

More detail on these first steps is on arrested in Türkiye and interpreter rights in Türkiye.

A lawyer can read the file, explain which of these articles may be relevant to it and make the requests the Code allows. The decisions remain with the prosecutor and the court.