The Çiftlik Bank Scam: How a Farming Game Stole $130,000,000
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In July 2016, a seemingly harmless mobile game launched in Turkey, promising players a revolutionary blend of gaming and real-world investing. This was the start of the Çiftlik Bank scam. The concept was simple: players bought virtual livestock and the profits from their virtual farm products could be exchanged for real money. The game claimed to invest players' money into actual farms, with the real-world profits flowing back to them. It was pitched as a way to support Turkey's struggling agricultural sector while getting rich. But what started as a dream for over half a million players quickly spiraled into one of the country's biggest financial disasters.
The mastermind was Mehmet Aydın, a young man who created a clone of Farmville with a real-money hook. The game was an instant sensation. To build trust for the Çiftlik Bank scam, Aydın hosted huge opening ceremonies for "real" farms, attended by politicians and celebrities. He even opened over a hundred franchise shops selling branded products. Players poured their life savings into the game, believing they were making a smart investment. At its peak, the game had amassed over $250 million from 130,000 investors.
But it was all a lie. The Çiftlik Bank scam was a classic Ponzi scheme. The farms were for show, and the products sold were not from company-owned livestock. "Profits" paid to early investors came from the money of new players. The scheme relied on aggressive marketing and commissions for recruiting new users to keep the cash flowing, a hallmark of the Çiftlik Bank scam.
