Dewi Elvia Muthiariny & Petir Garda Bhwana
The Yogyakarta Special Region Police have arrested three individuals allegedly connected to a Cambodian-based fraud syndicate that scammed a victim out of more than Rp2 billion. The suspects—YA, D, and SBI—are facing serious charges related to the fraudulent activities that exploited a victim’s trust over several months.
According to Senior Commissioner Nugroho Ariyanto, the Director of Special Criminal Investigation at Yogyakarta Police, the case is believed to be part of a broader criminal network operating out of Cambodia. “We are actively investigating this case, which appears to be part of a larger Cambodian syndicate,” Nugroho stated in a press briefing on Wednesday, August 7, 2024.
The scam began when the victim was contacted by a person pretending to be an officer from a telecommunication company, Telkom. The caller falsely informed the victim that their phone number was implicated in a corruption case. They were then directed to an online police report, where they were subsequently connected to another member of the syndicate, SBI.
The fraud escalated when another individual posing as a police officer convinced the victim that they were involved in a corruption investigation and demanded a monetary deposit for the case’s resolution. The scammer assured the victim that the money would be refunded once the investigation concluded. Over time, the victim was coerced into making multiple payments, eventually sending a total of Rp2 billion. The perpetrator even convinced the victim to take out loans to continue sending money.
Tragically, the victim, identified as BA, passed away. The case was reported to the police by BA’s son, PHS, on March 14, 2024, after the fraudulent activities took place on January 13, 2024, in Catur Tunggal, Depok, Sleman.
During the investigation, police identified the three main suspects: YA, a 51-year-old from Palembang, South Sumatra, who was responsible for recruiting individuals to create bank accounts; D, a 41-year-old, also from Palembang, who gathered SIM cards and bank accounts for the Cambodian syndicate; and SBI, a 27-year-old from Boyolali, Central Java, who posed as a Telkom officer to deceive the victim.
Authorities seized a range of evidence, including 12 cell phones, 7 SIM cards, 46 ATM cards, 19 bank books, 2 passports, Rp560 million in cash, and several communication records between the scammers and victims.
The suspects are facing multiple charges, including those under the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE Law), money laundering laws, and criminal fraud. Nugroho confirmed that the police are continuing their investigation into the fraud network’s operations, with particular focus on possible links to Cambodia’s online gambling industry.
“We are determined to uncover the full scale of this fraud network and its international connections,” Nugroho stated.