The East Java Regional Police have uncovered an online love scam syndicate involving foreign nationals from Africa.
Over the course of nearly 10 months, the network defrauded 53 women across Indonesia, with total losses estimated at Rp1.1 billion. Three suspects have been named: an Indonesian citizen with the initials LN, and two foreign nationals: GKG from Ghana and AV from Côte d’Ivoire. Moreover, two other foreign nationals, with the initials MCK and MCE, are still being held in Immigration detention pending further investigation at the time of writing.
The Director of Cyber Investigation at the East Java Regional Police, Senior Commissioner Bimo Ariyanto, said the case was uncovered based on information from a joint team regarding alleged residence permit violations by several foreign nationals at an apartment in Surabaya.
“We have arrested several people and named three suspects because they were actively involved in the fraud,” Ariyanto said at the East Java Regional Police Headquarters in Surabaya on Monday, the 22nd of June.
Ariyanto further revealed that the syndicate’s modus operandi was well planned. Suspect AV was tasked with creating fake identities on various digital platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. He used other people’s photos and videos and claimed to be ‘Haji Kamar Zaki,’ an Indonesian engineer pursuing a career in the United States. The syndicate specifically targeted women aged between 45 and 60.
The perpetrator then established intensive communication with the targets via text messages, phone calls, and even video calls. Once the victims had developed trust and believed they were in a romantic relationship, the perpetrator proceeded to set another trap. AV pretended to send luxury gifts, including watches, laptops, and gold jewellery. Suspect GKG then concocted a scenario in which the packages were being held by Customs or Immigration due to administrative issues. Suspect LN subsequently contacted the victims, posing as a shipping agent or Customs investigator, and requested a money transfer to release the packages.
“The suspect [LN] asked the victim to transfer a ransom to secure the goods and send them. The amounts varied, from Rp15 million, Rp30 million, to Rp100 million. However, the goods were fictitious and did not exist,” Ariyanto said.
By the time the case was uncovered, police had identified 53 female victims across various regions of Indonesia. Of these, 22 were residing in East Java.
“There were 22 victims from East Java, including those from Surabaya, Bondowoso, Gresik, Pacitan, Madiun, Pasuruan City, Mojokerto, Magetan, Nganjuk, Pamekasan, and Sampang,” he added.
For their actions, the three suspects have been charged under Article 45A Paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 28 Paragraph (1) of the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law (UU ITE), as well as the fraud provisions of the Criminal Code (KUHP). They face a maximum sentence of six years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to Rp1 billion.