How can you tell if a phone call is a scam?
Steps to identify a scammer within 60 seconds on a call from an unknown number and verify the number yourself.
Short answer
Hang up and never use the callback button. Dial the institution's own switchboard yourself: police 155, gendarmerie 156, or the 0850 number printed on the back of your bank card. If the caller wants an SMS code, card details, a money transfer, a remote-access app, or asks you to "tell no one", it is a scam. No institution ever asks for a one-time password over the phone.
What you need
Step by step
Cut the call within 30 seconds
If the caller introduces themselves as police, a prosecutor, a bank officer, a courier or your mobile operator and creates urgency, say "I will call you back on the institution's own number" and hang up. Time is a scammer's strongest tool; keeping you on the line stops you from thinking. Hanging up is neither a crime nor rude.
Dial the number yourself
Do not press callback on the incoming number; the line may stay open and the number itself may be spoofed. Type in 155 for police, 156 for the gendarmerie, or the 0850 number on the back of your card manually. When you ask about your record, you will hear "there is no such call" within one or two minutes.
Check the five red flags
If any of these appear, the call is a scam: asking you to read out the one-time code sent by SMS, asking for your card number or CVV, telling you to "move your money to a safe account", making you install a remote-access app such as AnyDesk or TeamViewer, and saying "do not tell even your spouse". No legitimate institution asks for these five things by phone.
Look up the number and block it
On Android: Phone app > Recents > long-press the number > "Block / report spam". On iPhone: Phone > Recents > the (i) next to the number > "Block this Caller". Then search the number online; if complaint sites and regulator reports fill the first page, your suspicion is confirmed.
Audit lines and transactions in your name
Log in to e-Devlet and use the BTK "Mobile Line Inquiry" service to list every number registered in your name; request cancellation from the same screen for any line you do not recognise. In your banking app, check Account Activity and the "Saved Instructions / Saved Payees" section. Both checks take about five minutes.
Report money loss within one hour
First call your bank's 0850 line, open a case by saying "fraud, transaction reversal and account block request", and note the reference number. Then call 155 or go to the nearest police station and file a written complaint. Funds are far more likely to be frozen if you report in the first hours.
Keep the evidence and file a report
Do not delete the screenshot of the call log, the SMS messages, or any bank receipt; these count as evidence at the police station. Nuisance calls can be reported through the BTK service on e-Devlet under "Call Centre Complaint", or by phone on 0850 288 12 12.
Tips
Watch out
Installing a remote-access app is the most damaging mistake: once you install AnyDesk, TeamViewer or QuickSupport and share the code, the caller opens your banking app on your own phone and reads your SMS codes. If you have installed one, switch to airplane mode immediately, delete the app, and call your bank from a different phone.
Frequently asked questions
+What if the incoming number really shows as 155 or my bank's number?
With caller ID spoofing any number can be displayed on your screen. Do not trust what you see; hang up and dial that same number yourself by hand.
+I only talked and gave no information. Am I at risk?
There is no direct risk; a recording of your voice alone cannot empty your account. Still, block the number, because your line gets marked as active and you will be called again.
+I read out the one-time SMS code. What should I do?
Call the 0850 number on the back of your card immediately and ask for your account and card to be blocked, then change your online banking password. File a complaint with 155 or a police station the same day.
+Could a mobile line have been opened in my name without me knowing?
Yes. The BTK "Mobile Line Inquiry" service on e-Devlet lists every number registered in your name and lets you send any unfamiliar line for cancellation from the same screen.
+Where can I report scam calls?
If you lost money, call 155 or go to a police station. For nuisance calls only, use BTK's 0850 288 12 12 line or the call centre complaint form on e-Devlet.
Sources and verification
Last verified: 13 Eylül 2026. tell us. Numbers and services are specific to Turkey: 155 police, 156 gendarmerie, BTK 0850 288 12 12, and the e-Devlet portal.
This content is for information only; for official procedures the relevant institution’s current announcements take precedence. Details: disclaimer.