-
A cybercriminal is auctioning off roughly 23,000 Turkish credit card records on a dark web forum.
-
The seller claims that apart from basic card numbers, complete cardholder credentials are also at hand.
-
The auction started at 17,000 units of digital currency, with bidding already underway.
A new set of stolen financial credentials just went live on the dark web’s bazaar. This time, it’s Turkish credit card holders in the crosshairs. A threat actor going by the handle daren563 is running an active auction for approximately 23,000 compromised credit card records. The listing went live just hours ago on January 19, 2026.
The seller isn’t being subtle about it. They posted the offering with a straightforward description indicating they possess what the cybercrime world calls complete card data. The starting bid? A hefty 17,000 units of cryptocurrency. That price tag tells you everything about what’s actually being sold here.
Sensitive Credentials Beyond Basic Card Numbers
When criminals advertise complete credit card information, they’re not talking about just your card number. This is the full package with cardholder names, card numbers, expiry dates, and even CVV codes. These comprehensive datasets often include additional personal details that make the stolen information far more dangerous:
- Full names and billing addresses
- Phone numbers and email addresses
- Potentially even national identification numbers
Criminals can carry out unauthorized purchases, account claims, and different fraud schemes with these. Given the all-inclusive nature of the stolen data, the price could get higher as well as damage potential.
The listing shows the current volume at 23,000 records. Whether this represents one massive breach or collected data from multiple smaller incidents remains unclear. What’s interesting is the seller’s timeline. Their forum profile reveals they only joined on January 18, 2026—literally one day before posting this massive sale.
The sudden appearance of new actors auctioning large datasets is a recurring alarm signal in cybersecurity, echoing similar disruptive listings by new vendors, including in the recent UK dark web crisis involving 1,800 bank cards.
Turkey’s Growing Target Status
The Digital Economy in Turkey has become a rapidly growing sector. The country’s consumers-there are over 85 million and they advocate the cause for e-commerce-surely provide a rich breeding ground for data thieves.
As such, recent years have seen resources from the financial sector channeled into upgrades regarding cybersecurity. However sophisticated attackers keep exploiting weaknesses in the payment systems, online retailers, and banking infrastructure.
This incident underscores that critical data systems, from finance to travel, are prime targets, as seen in a recent case where a hacker claimed full control of a major Asian airline’s booking system.
The auction format does make this very troublesome for security experts. The seller is not after a quick sale, thus maximizing profit through competitive bidding. Here’s the problem with that approach: the data gets sold to the highest bidder first, then often resold to secondary buyers later.
This multiplication effect means the same stolen records could end up in the hands of multiple criminal operations. Each buyer can exploit the data in different ways. Your card details might be used for fraudulent purchases by one buyer, while another uses them for identity theft schemes.
What Happens Next (Potentially)
Financial institutions and cybersecurity firms that monitor these dark web channels will move fast. They’ll dig around, checking for compromised cards and then notify the appropriate financial institutions.
On events like this, Turkish authorities usually work with international authorities through Europol and INTERPOL to track down the perpetrators and limit the damage.
For Turkish consumers, vigilance is critical right now. Watch for unauthorized transactions on your statements. Be alert for declined charges on cards that should be working fine. Any unexpected purchase notifications are red flags.
If something feels off, contact your bank immediately and request a replacement card. Don’t wait for confirmation of compromise—acting early can prevent significant financial headaches.
