Cybercrime Unit: Operators of Fake E-Fine System Paid in Cryptocurrency, Earned Nearly IDR 1 Billion
The Directorate of Special Cyber Crimes (Dittipidsiber) of the Indonesian National Police’s Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) has uncovered a case of online fraud, or phishing, using the method of sending fake e-fine payment SMS messages. In this operation, the police arrested five Indonesian citizens who acted as field operators.
The Head of Dittipidsiber Bareskrim Polri, Brigadier General Himawan Bayu Aji, stated that the suspects worked under the direction of a Chinese national and received salaries in the form of cryptocurrency (USDT).
“The suspects received monthly salaries in the form of cryptocurrency or USDT, ranging from 1,500 USDT or approximately IDR 25 million to 4,000 USDT or approximately IDR 67 million, depending on the number of SIM boxes they operated,” said Himawan during a press conference at Bareskrim Polri, South Jakarta, Wednesday (February 25, 2026).
Himawan detailed that one of the suspects, with the initials BAP (38), was the largest recipient of profits, earning nearly IDR 1 billion.
“BAP received a total of 53,000 USDT or approximately IDR 890 million in 142 transactions from February 2025 to January 2026,” Himawan revealed.
Then, suspect RW received a total of 42,300 USDT or approximately IDR 700 million from June 2025 to January 2026. Suspect FN received a total of 14,100 USDT or approximately IDR 235 million from July 2025 to January 2026.
Furthermore, WTP received a total of 32,700 USDT or approximately IDR 530 million in 43 transactions from September 2025 to January 2026.
“These profits or commissions were routinely exchanged for Rupiah currency each month by the suspects,” said the investigator in Himawan’s statement.
Himawan explained that the Chinese national controlled the perpetrators in Indonesia to insert SIM cards into SIM boxes or modem pools. The system was then controlled remotely from China.
The suspects in Indonesia only needed to open an application called TVS (Terminal Vendor System). Through this application, the suspects could monitor the number of SMS messages successfully sent and those that failed.
“In one day, the SIM box devices operated by the suspects were able to send phishing SMS messages to 3,000 mobile phone numbers,” he said.
“To operate the SIM boxes sent from China, the perpetrators needed hundreds of SIM cards that had been registered using the NIK (National Identity Number) and data of Indonesian citizens,” Himawan added.
As a result of their actions, the five suspects were charged with Article 51 in conjunction with Article 35 of Law Number 1 of 2024 concerning the Second Amendment to Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions and/or Article 45A paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 28 paragraph 1 of Law Number 1 of 2024 concerning the Second Amendment to Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions, and/or Article 3, 4, 5, and 10 of Law Number 8 of 2010 concerning Money Laundering and/or Article 607 paragraph 1 letters a, b, and c of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 20 letter c of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code, with a maximum prison sentence of 15 years and a maximum fine of IDR 12 billion.