"Beat & Release": Infamous Turkish Hacker Wanted by FBI, Caught by Police in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 16 May 2024)

                 "ChaO" explained: "Beats working."

This man was at the top of fraud incidents at the international level.  He

invented a device in Turkey and sold it in places like England, France

and America, reaping millions of dollars.  The FBI named this man, 

Çağatay Evyapan, who used the codename "ChaO", as one of the four 

most dangerous hackers in the world.  He's been caught by the 

Istanbul police.  How did this happen?

Evyapan's device enabled criminals to steal money from ATMs - it is

implanted at the card-entrance port on an ATM and copies all the card's

information. Another element of the device on the keypad garners the

card's cipher when the owner punches it in.  Rather than sending the 

stolen money directly to the criminal's account, which would easily

identify him, the money is routed through internet foreign currency

domains.  

Evyapan first surfaced in 1993 for the first credit card theft in Turkey.  

Victims complained that their bank accounts were emptied, leading 

police to Evyapan, who was arrested in 1998 but he successfully 

escaped from prison in 2000 (!).  He was sought by the FBI and Interpol 

up until 2008.  Finally, the Istanbul police nabbed Evyapan and found 

information relating to nearly 10,000 banking cards in his home. 

So how was it that the Istanbul police found Evyapan when the FBI 

couldn't?  Evyapan had a website called "DarkMarket" and to enter this

website one needed the references of three people.  The FBI tried for four

years to penetrate the website and ultimately an FBI got in.  One thing

led to another and one of the gang's members "Jilsi" was caught in 

England.  The trail then led to another gang member, "Kier", and this

arrest resulted in a photograph of Evyapan/"ChaO" being obtained.    

Istanbul police identified "ChaO" as Evyapan, trailed him and his

friends and arrested him.  Evyapan was astonished that the police had

been able to link "ChaO" to himself and he tried mightily to figure out 

the mistake he'd made that got him caught.  In any case, the FBI chief

came to Turkey and thanked the Istanbul police for capturing the

infamous hacker "ChaO", who is now in prison. 

"ChaO" in happier days...