Natural Disaster Fraud
Natural disasters can bring out the worst in a handful of people. After the September 28 earthquake and tsunami that...
Scams in the City
Phony Breast Cancer Doctor Jailed
Staying healthy in Indonesia is hard enough without being exposed to quackery. A court in Bali has jailed a bogus...
Magic Money Boxes and Jenglot
Conmen are still tricking gullible people into believing that money can be magically increased by mystical and mythical objects. The...
UAE Boxing Coach Scammed in Jakarta
The Asian Games were a great success, marred only by a few scandals and controversies, including a Palestinian expatriate scamming...
Setting the Crooked Record Straight
Some foreigners are involved in hypnotism scams in Indonesia, but the media should not be too hasty to blame Singaporeans....
Old Singapore Dollars for New Rupiah
A gang of scammers is targeting elderly people in Jakarta by offering Singapore dollars at an exchange rate that’s too...
Not So Sweet Anymore
Condensed milk producers will no longer be allowed to falsely market their sickly sweet product as a health food. Growing...
Here, Have a Photo of One Million Dollars
Pull up a chair. In the 1950s, there was a groundbreaking British radio series called The Goon Show. It was...
The Stealing Season
It’s that time of the year again, when some people are resorting to crime to raise money to return to...
Correctional Crimes
Inmates at a jail in Bandung were running a scam for two years in which they seduced women online and...
Jember Friendship Ambassador Scammed by Foreigners
I once asked a long-time Australian expatriate why he had made Indonesia his home for over 40 years. Was it...
Hatching Hoaxes
Indonesia made international tabloid headlines a few weeks ago when it was reported that a teenage boy from South Sulawesi...
Those Possessed By Demons?
The weighty Indonesian dictionary compiled by the Education Ministry defines kesurupan as “possession by Satan or spirits, resulting in strange...
My Uncle the Police Chief and Other Lies
Imagine you’re choosing a career. Would you cough up Rp300 million (US$25,400) for a job with a starting salary of...
Designer Bag Deceit
Let’s be honest. A handbag is just something in which to carry makeup, car keys, tampons, sunglasses, perfume and a...
Online Arisan Exposed
A simple Facebook page lured hundreds of Indonesians, mostly housewives, into investing their savings in a scheme offering unfeasibly high...
Swipers Still Swiping
Despite the ongoing efforts of Islamic political parties to criminalize sex outside of marriage, Indonesians are still flocking to online...
Delving into the Dark Web
Much has been written in Indonesia about the ‘deep web’ and the ‘dark web’ – much of it ill-informed scaremongering....
Sexploitation, Lies and Video
Amid the almost daily allegations of sexual abuse by Hollywood celebrities, there is an understandable response of condemnation and moral...
How to Get Poor Fast
One of the most popular ways to get rich in Indonesia is through politics. There are endless possibilities for self-enrichment...
Phony Document & Sweepstakes Hustles
Imagine finding a cheque for US$350,000, or picking up a winning sweepstakes ticket on the street. Too good to be...