Bareskrim Dismantles Online Gambling Syndicate Using Instagram Comment Spam
The Directorate of Cyber Crimes of the Indonesian National Police (Bareskrim Polri) has dismantled an online gambling syndicate that employed a modus operandi of promoting illegal activities through spam comments on Instagram (IG). From these illegal practices, the syndicate was found to have amassed a turnover of up to Rp 90 billion per year.
Brigadier General Adex Yudiswan, Director of Cyber Crimes at Bareskrim Polri, explained that the disclosure began following reports from the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) regarding the prevalence of gambling-related spam comments on social media in June 2026.
“The team subsequently conducted investigations and cyber patrols, discovering spam comments containing online gambling content linked to websites GARAM26, SOR54, and RAWIT14, which directed users to the PUSATJP68 website,” Adex stated during a press conference at the Bareskrim Polri Building, South Jakarta, on Thursday (3/9/2026).
Furthermore, in July 2026, investigators identified similar spam intensity from sites including PARIS52, HANTAM01, and MANIS36, all directing traffic to the JARIBOS site. These websites offered various forms of gambling, ranging from slots and casinos to football betting.
“Based on in-depth field investigations by investigators, it was discovered that the control and operational centres for all these websites are located abroad,” Adex revealed.
During the operation, Bareskrim arrested a total of six suspects from two different police reports. In the first cluster, police apprehended three suspects: TRN, arrested in Depok on 7/7/2026, acting as the owner of bank accounts used for laundering online gambling proceeds; TP, arrested in Jakarta on 7/7/2026, acting as an account collector; and CR, arrested in Cianjur on 12/7/2026, acting as a liaison between the account collectors and the leaders.
In the second cluster, police arrested three other suspects: AR, arrested in Central Jakarta on 25/7/2026, acting as an account collector; FJC, arrested in Depok on 25/7/2026, acting as the operational leader for online gambling within Indonesia. FJC was also responsible for coordinating account collectors and transferring funds abroad, as well as actively recruiting workers for roles such as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), customer service, and telemarketing.
Additionally, IR was arrested in Pekanbaru on 13/8/2026, serving as a customer service agent responsible for processing deposits and withdrawals.
From the suspects, police seized significant evidence, including 350 ATM cards, dozens of passbooks, passports, and foreign work permits from Cambodia. Meanwhile, investigators are still pursuing seven other individuals who have been placed on the Most Wanted list (DPO), namely DS, HS, AS, A, RGP, AA, and DBB.
Adex further revealed that based on fund flow tracking, the turnover from the two cases involving these eight suspects reached billions of rupiah. “From the tracking of fund flows, it was found that the turnover from the two cases involving these eight online gambling suspects reached Rp 7.5 billion per month, or Rp 90 billion per year,” he said.
Authorities have now blocked 42 bank accounts containing a total of Rp 83,100,000 related to these online gambling crimes.
The suspects face charges under Article 426, paragraph 1, letters b and c of Law Number 1 of 2023 (the Criminal Code) regarding online gambling, and/or Articles 82 and/or 85 of Law Number 3 of 2011 regarding Criminal Acts of Fund Transfers, and/or Article 607 of Law Number 1 of 2023, or complicity under Article 55, paragraph 1, 1st of the Criminal Code.
“The maximum penalty carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years and a fine of Rp 10 billion,” concluded Adex.