Garut Youth Falls Victim to Job Scam for Squid Boat Crew in Muara Angke

A young man from Garut, West Java, with the initials DS (24), is suspected of being a victim of fraud under the guise of a job vacancy for a crew member (ABK) on a squid boat in Muara Angke, North Jakarta. The victim, enticed by a job advertisement on social media, reported the matter to the police after finding discrepancies in information regarding the cash advance and work fees charged to him. “The fraud was carried out by the perpetrators using a job vacancy advertisement posted on social media,” said Iptu Indra Basuki, Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Sunda Kelapa Area Police Sector, in Jakarta on Sunday. He stated that the job advertisement listed a base salary of Rp1.2 million, with workers later receiving an additional percentage from the catch of squid and fish while sailing. He added that the type of work offered was squid fishing, with a base salary of Rp1.2 million plus a bonus of Rp8,000 per kilogram of squid, Rp5,000 per kilogram of mixed fish, and Rp7,000 per kilogram of Spanish mackerel. The advertisement also included the lure of signing a contract the day before sailing and being given a cash advance of Rp4-5 million for the prospective crew member’s family at home or as a personal allowance. Seeing the vacancy, the victim was interested and eventually submitted a job application as a squid boat crew member. The victim DS then went to the workers’ mess in the Muara Angke area, North Jakarta, and met with A, the manager of the prospective crew’s mess. However, upon arriving at the workers’ mess, DS’s suspicions arose. The money promised to him turned out not to match what had been offered by the ship agent previously. “The complainant felt disappointed because of the lack of transparency regarding the initial cash advance. To the complainant’s knowledge, the cash advance deduction was only for the cost of buying cigarettes, but it turned out there were deductions for meals, travel, and sponsorship,” he said. In addition, the victim DS’s mobile phone was also confiscated by the mess management. The victim, unwilling to accept this, reported the incident to the 110 emergency service. “After receiving a report from the 110 call centre, the Tanjung Priok Port Police contacted the on-duty criminal investigation officer of the Sunda Kelapa Area Police Sector to immediately conduct a crime scene check,” he said. It was confirmed that there was a prospective squid boat crew member who felt deceived by job vacancy information for boats in Muara Angke and Muara Baru through advertisements on a Facebook social media account. “We eventually brought the complainant and the mess owner to the Muara Angke Police Sub-sector for questioning,” he said. Subsequently, both parties agreed to resolve the matter amicably. The costs for travel, meals, and the Pelni ship ticket to Dobo were covered by the mess owner. “The complainant was eventually returned to his family and picked up by them,” he said. Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Sunda Kelapa Area Police Sector is continuing its investigation into fraud cases involving job vacancy scams on social media.