TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Police Cyber Crime Investigation Agency has unveiled an international online scam network believed to be operating from Dubai. Brigadier General Himawan Bayu Aji announced that three suspects have been identified: one foreign national and two Indonesian citizens.
The network used fake part-time job vacancies shared via social media platforms, including Telegram and WhatsApp, to lure victims. The suspects include ZS, the foreign national suspected to be the coordinator; M, who acted as the recruiter; and H, who served as the operator working in Dubai.
M was responsible for recruiting Indonesian citizens under the guise of offering jobs as computer operators in Dubai. However, these roles were actually positions as online scammers. M coordinated the departure of recruits based on instructions from ZS.
Suspect H operated as a scammer in Dubai, executing fraudulent schemes under ZS’s direction. Authorities are currently investigating whether ZS was part of a larger operation with additional individuals orchestrating the scams.
The network not only targeted victims in Dubai but also operated in India, China, and Thailand. The investigation was triggered by a report from a Consul General regarding the repatriation of Indonesian citizens who had been employed as online scammers in Dubai.
Following this discovery, the police issued a red notice to Interpol for ZS’s apprehension in Dubai. Himawan also noted that another accomplice, NSS, had previously been sentenced to 3.5 years in prison by the Central Jakarta District Court for her role as a translator from Mandarin to Indonesian within the scam operation.
Authorities continue to pursue further investigations to uncover any additional members involved in this fraudulent network.