Jakarta. Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 19 foreign nationals suspected of being part of an online romance scam syndicate that allegedly relocated operations from Cambodia to Indonesia amid a crackdown on cyber fraud in the neighboring country.

The suspects were arrested during a late-night operation on Tuesday at an apartment complex in Teluknaga, Tangerang Regency, near Jakarta, according to the Tangerang Immigration Office.

Hasanin, head of the Class I Special Non-Border Control Immigration Office in Tangerang, said officers launched the raid after receiving intelligence reports about suspicious activities involving a group of foreigners believed to pose a threat to public order and security.

“After receiving the information, we conducted preliminary investigations and, once we obtained verified intelligence, we moved quickly to the target location while coordinating with apartment management and security personnel,” Hasanin said on Wednesday.

Authorities identified the group as consisting of 15 Chinese nationals, one Taiwanese citizen, one Malaysian, one Vietnamese, and one Cambodian national.

Investigators believe the group was linked to an online fraud network using the “love scamming” method, in which scammers build fake romantic relationships online to manipulate victims into transferring money.

Officials said evidence gathered during the operation suggested the suspects had previously operated from Cambodia before attempting to establish a new base in Indonesia.

Bong Bong Prakoso Napitupulu, head of intelligence and immigration enforcement at the Tangerang office, said the suspicion was strengthened by the suspects’ travel histories and digital evidence found during the raid, including WhatsApp group conversations allegedly discussing online scam activities.

Immigration authorities found that 16 of the foreign nationals entered Indonesia using pre-investment visit stay permits, while two entered using Visa on Arrival facilities and one under a visa-free arrangement.

Officials also suspect that the sponsoring companies listed in the immigration documents were fictitious or inactive.

“In this operation, we managed to prevent the alleged online love scam activities before they could begin operating in Indonesia,” Bong Bong said.

Authorities seized 19 foreign passports, 32 mobile phones, three laptops, 28 Cambodian foreign worker identification cards, and a rental agreement for a commercial property believed to have been intended as the syndicate’s operational base.

According to immigration officials, Cambodia’s increasingly strict crackdown on online scam compounds may have prompted syndicates to seek alternative operating locations in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia.

Officials added that members of the group had allegedly been instructed not to travel together in public and to conceal their real addresses and purposes while staying in Indonesia, based on messages found in their WhatsApp communications.

Under Indonesia’s Immigration Law and the country’s “selective policy” principle, authorities deemed the group a potential threat to public order and security.

Following coordination with the Directorate General of Immigration and the Banten regional immigration office, all 19 foreign nationals were deported and blacklisted from re-entering Indonesia, officials said.

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