Title: Indonesian Police Unravel Five International Fraud Cases worth $19.5 Million

Overview

• Indonesian National Police have uncovered five transnational fraud schemes between 2018 and 2020.
• The total losses amounted to approximately 276 billion rupiahs ($19.5 million).

Latest Case

• The latest fraud case came to light in November 2020 when a Dutch company received a fraudulent email.
• The scheme involved the change of bank account details, resulting in the transfer of $3.6 million to the perpetrator’s Indonesian account.

Arrest of Suspects

• The police arrested two suspects, H and BA, responsible for document preparation and bank account management.
• The mastermind behind the criminal activities is a Nigerian national, Emeka, currently imprisoned in Serang Prison, Banten.

Previous Fraudulent Activities

• In 2018 and 2019, victims suffered losses totaling $4.4 million and $8 million, respectively.
• The police have seized over $10 million worth of the total losses.

Syndicate’s Modus Operandi

• The syndicate exploited compromised e-mail accounts and orchestrated schemes from international collaborations.

International Collaboration

• Listyo Sigit Prabowo, chief of National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), shared details about the cases.
• The National Police are working closely with foreign law enforcement agencies to further investigate and apprehend additional suspects.

Covid-19 Equipment Purchases

• The syndicate also targeted victims with fraudulent Covid-19 equipment purchases, marking a new wave of transnational economic crimes during the pandemic.

Prevention Measures

• To combat these criminal activities, the National Police advised citizens to remain vigilant and avoid responding to unsolicited emails, particularly those containing fraudulent solicitations related to financial transactions.