Jakarta. A woman wanted for her role in an international job scam ring has been arrested at the airport upon arrival from Dubai, police said on Friday.

Police earlier requested Interpol to arrest the woman wherever she was spotted. 

The woman, identified by the initial L, was the fourth suspect to be detained by the Indonesian police in recent weeks in connection to a job scam syndicate that operated in at least four countries.

Police received a tipoff of her arrival at Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Wednesday and sent a team to arrest her.

“We checked at the airport’s Terminal 3 and could verify that she is the suspect against whom we released a red notice on November 23, 2023,” said Chief Comr. Alfis Suhaili from the National Police’s cybercrime unit.

He said the suspect, a native of Sukabumi, West Java, worked for the syndicate in Dubai between May and August last year with a monthly payment of 3,500 dirhams ($953).

"She wasn’t originally recruited by the syndicate. She came to Dubai to see a relative and seek a job, but ended up working for the syndicate," Alfis said.

She was trained to send mass messages, manage social media accounts, and communicate with targeted persons, the officer said.

Earlier this week, police announced the arrest of three suspects including the suspected group leader, a Chinese national identified by the initials ZS, with the help of the Interpol.

The group advertised job vacancies through messaging services such as WhatsApp and Telegram, offering easy-paid tasks like watching, liking, or subscribing to social media posts. However, job seekers were required to first deposit money into websites designed to look like major social media platforms.

Once the money was transferred, it was withdrawn by the syndicate and the website disappeared.

The police said the syndicate operated in Indonesia, China, Thailand, and India.

“The total number of victims in Indonesia alone reaches at least 823 between 2022 and 2024,” said Brig. Gen. Himawan Bayu Aji, director of the cybercrime unit of the police’s Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim).

The syndicate has amassed at least Rp 59 billion ($3.6 million) from its Indonesian victims, he said. The total amount stolen from victims in China, India, Indonesia, and Thailand is estimated at Rp 1.5 trillion ($92.8 million).

According to the investigation, the syndicate employed 17 Indonesian nationals, 10 Thai nationals, 21 Chinese nationals, and 20 Indian nationals who mostly operated from Dubai.

Another suspect in custody was tasked with arranging the transportation of Indonesian nationals to work illegally in Dubai. He is charged under the human trafficking law, Himawan said.
 

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