Online Scams Drain $474 Million from Indonesians in a Year, OJK Says
Jakarta. Indonesia recorded Rp7.9 trillion ($474 million) in losses from online scams between November 2024 and November 2025, the country’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) said on Monday.
The findings were released during a media briefing titled “Countering Financial Fraud in the Digital Era” at the Central Information Commission (KIP) office in Jakarta.
OJK’s Indonesia Anti Scam Centre reported that of the total losses, Rp 386.9 billion was successfully recovered through swift transaction blocking and account freezing.
West Java, Jakarta, and East Java topped the list of scam-prone regions, with 72,564, 55,616, and 48,731 cases reported respectively over the past year. In total, 576,816 bank accounts were reported for suspected involvement in fraudulent activity, with 108,779 accounts subsequently blocked to prevent further damage.
Friderica Widyasari Dewi, OJK’s Chief Executive for Market Conduct Supervision, Consumer Protection, and Financial Literacy, stressed that speed of reporting is the single most critical factor in recovering stolen funds.
“Over the past year, public losses reached Rp7.9 trillion from more than 350,000 reports. Scams move incredibly fast,” she said. “The earlier victims report to the Anti Scam Centre, the greater the chance the funds can be recovered. If a report comes a week or a month later, the money is usually gone.”
She urged Indonesians to avoid sharing personal information with anyone, even callers claiming to represent banks, government agencies, or law enforcement.
“If someone claims to be from a bank or an institution, just hang up and visit the official office instead,” Friderica said. “Many of these calls turn out to be attempts to break into victims’ accounts.”
OJK also called on financial institutions to strengthen cybersecurity systems while reminding the public to be more discerning when interacting online.
The agency warned against clicking suspicious links or responding to offers that request sensitive data such as OTP codes, PINs, or remote access to mobile banking apps—common tactics used in phishing and account-takeover schemes.
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