Bareskrim Combats Cybercrime, Highlights Deepfake Case Involving Prabowo
The Cyber Crime Directorate of Bareskrim Polri discussed the handling of cybercrime in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) imitation. The Cyber Crime Directorate of Bareskrim Polri revealed several strategies for uncovering cybercrime.
Deputy Head of Subdirectorate II of the Cyber Crime Directorate of Bareskrim Polri, Commissioner Andrian Pramudianto, disclosed several police methods for handling cybercrime cases. This was stated during a public dialogue titled ‘Legal Challenges in the Artificial Intelligence Era’ organised by the Polri Public Relations Division.
“This is our strategy for handling cyber offences. The first is ‘follow the people’, that is, the perpetrators, using certain methods. Then ‘follow the machine’, or the facilities used. We have a lab in Subdirectorate 3 of the Cyber Crime Directorate Forensics, which is the only one recognised by Kominfo,” said Commissioner Andrian in the Kemang area, South Jakarta, on Tuesday (7/4/2026).
Andrian also explained that they track the materials and technology used by the perpetrators. The Cyber Crime Directorate of Bareskrim continuously follows technological developments in handling cybercrime.
“Then ‘follow the material’. As we know, these perpetrators move very quickly. Today it’s transferred, and within 1–2 minutes, it might already be converted to crypto,” he said.
Bareskrim also collaborates with other institutions to uncover cybercrime cases, including working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice.
“Then the last one is perhaps ‘follow the technology’. The investigators in the Cyber Crime Directorate, in particular, we all continue to develop by following existing technological advancements, and we even collaborate with the FBI, AFP, and others,” he added.
Andrian then brought up the case of video and audio manipulation (deepfake) involving President Prabowo Subianto and former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani that occurred in 2025. Andrian explained that they were able to arrest the perpetrators using those methods.
“So in January 2025 last year, we uncovered a deepfake impersonating state officials, in this case, the then former Finance Minister, Mrs Sri Mulyani. So impersonating the government offering assistance, assistance to lure victims by using the names of state officials, namely Mrs Sri Mulyani and our President, Mr Prabowo Subianto,” he said.
“Alhamdulillah, in a short time, we were able to uncover this case, and it has now been decided by the court,” he said.
Andrian then explained how to uncover deepfake content. This can be seen from the shadows in the deepfake, to the use of AI detection tools.
“To recognise deepfake content, the first is anomalies in the face and expressions. Then the presence of light shadows and visual quality. Distortions in the anatomy of inanimate objects. And finally, audio indicators. The tools used to recognise whether it is AI or not were probably already mentioned earlier,” he said.