Indonesia Anti-Scam Centre (IASC) has recovered Rp161 billion in funds belonging to 1,070 victims of digital scams, after blocking accounts used by perpetrators across 14 banks (21/01).

The data reflects IASC’s operations from 22 November 2024 until 12 January 2026.

The symbolic handover of the recovered funds was held in Jakarta by the Financial Services Authority (OJK), which serves as the coordinator of the PASTI Task Force and IASC.

OJK Highlights State Commitment to Consumer Protection

The event was attended by Chairman of Commission XI of the Indonesian House of Representatives Mokhamad Misbakhun, OJK Chairman Mahendra Siregar, and OJK Executive Head for Financial Services Conduct Supervision, Education, and Consumer Protection Friderica Widyasari Dewi.

Banking leaders involved in IASC, the Indonesian National Police, the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs, and several scam victims were also present.

Friderica stated that the return of funds demonstrates tangible cooperation between OJK, ministries, and the banking industry to protect the public.

“The return of scam victims’ funds is also a real symbol of the state’s presence in protecting society from increasingly complex, innovative, and unthinkable financial crime methods,” said Friderica.

Increasing Scale and Modus of Digital Financial Scams

Digital financial crimes have continued to expand and increasingly cross national borders, requiring joint handling among institutions.

Scam methods used by perpetrators include fake shopping transactions, impersonation or fake calls, investment fraud, job scams, and social media scams.

Love scams were also identified as a method frequently used by perpetrators in Indonesia and other countries.

Challenges in Handling Scams and Fund Recovery

Authorities face challenges such as a surge in public complaints, delays in reporting, and the need to improve the speed of account blocking.

Other challenges include complex fund movements and the optimization of recovered funds.

Mahendra Siregar stated that fund recovery reflects OJK’s strong commitment, together with ministries and the financial services industry, to consumer protection and trust in the financial sector.

“Synergy and collaboration among all stakeholders are the key to successfully fighting all scam methods used by perpetrators,” said Mahendra.

Public Reporting and National Collaboration

OJK also appreciated the willingness of scam victims to share their experiences, describing them as important lessons for strengthening collective efforts against digital financial crime.

The public is encouraged to report financial fraud to IASC as soon as possible, as faster reporting increases the potential amount of funds that can be recovered.

Mokhamad Misbakhun emphasized that fraud in the financial services sector is a serious crime with high complexity.

“This is not an ordinary crime; this is white-collar crime. The typical white collar crime has sophisticated methods and sophisticated technical execution,” said Misbakhun.

Since its establishment on 22 November 2024 until 14 January 2026, IASC has received 432,637 fraud reports, with total losses reaching Rp9.1 trillion.

The total value of funds successfully blocked by IASC during this period amounted to Rp436.88 billion.

Fraud reports can be submitted through the official IASC website at iasc.ojk.go.id.

Satgas PASTI also urged the public to remain cautious of fraudulent websites or individuals falsely claiming to represent the Indonesia Anti-Scam Centre.

PHOTO: OJK

This article was created with AI assistance.

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