Indonesian police announced that they have successfully dismantled a criminal gang in Denpasar, Bali, a popular tourist destination, that specialized in "online romance" scams targeting American men. The raid resulted in the arrest of 38 suspects, including 7 women, at a rented residential property.
Bali Police Chief Daniel Adityajaya stated at a press conference that the police initiated the investigation based on tips from the public and conducted a raid to arrest the suspects.
The investigation revealed that the gang targeted men with American accounts on social platforms like Telegram. The suspects posed as single women, gained trust by using stolen photos of women, and then sent phishing links disguised as "dating sites" or "dating platforms" to lure victims into providing sensitive information such as bank account numbers and passwords.
"Their job was to impersonate others, chat with the target victims, and lead them to carefully set up phishing pages to steal data," Daniel pointed out.
Further investigation found that the mastermind behind the scam network was not in Indonesia but in Cambodia, directing the entire scam operation. Each operator was paid a monthly salary of about 200 US dollars, with compensation in the form of commissions.
The police initially arrested 9 people and then expanded the investigation, eventually completely dismantling the gang. It was confirmed that all suspects were Indonesian nationals.
The police are currently prosecuting the gang on suspicion of violating the "2008 Indonesian Electronic Information and Transactions Law." If convicted, the involved individuals could face up to 12 years in prison.
This case once again reveals the international and organized nature of online fraud. The Indonesian police emphasized that they would further strengthen cooperation with international law enforcement agencies and enhance monitoring capabilities on social platforms to prevent Indonesia from being misused as an operational base for transnational scam groups.
