Hundreds of Yogyakarta Students Allegedly Fall Victim to TOEFL Scam During School Orientation
Hundreds of students in the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) have allegedly fallen victim to a fraud scheme disguised as a TOEFL test socialisation during the School Environment Introduction Period (MPLS). The victims were pressured into paying fees after a presentation by external parties at several senior high schools.
The case came to light following a post on the social media account @merapi_uncover. One incident reportedly occurred on Friday (17/7/2026), when approximately 108 students from three classes at a high school in Yogyakarta City were gathered in a single room for a TOEFL socialisation. During the session, two officers presented material to the students, but the atmosphere was reportedly tense as one of the individuals allegedly exerted pressure and intimidation on the participants.
The individual also allegedly claimed that the TOEFL certificate on offer could guarantee high school graduation and assist with career paths in the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and the National Police (Polri). During the socialisation, the names of the Yogyakarta Education, Youth, and Sports Agency (Disdikpora) and the Yogyakarta Regional Police (Polda DIY) were invoked to convince students that the activity was official.
Following the socialisation, students were offered a test initially priced at IDR 400,000. The price was then gradually discounted to IDR 100,000. Students were given only about 15 minutes to make the payment. Rushed for time, a number of students paid immediately via cash, bank transfer, or QRIS.
Suspicions arose after the students returned to their classrooms. Within 10 minutes, a student received information from a peer at another school that a similar activity was suspected to be a fraudulent scheme. The students then investigated the details listed on the receipt. The office address provided was found to be non-existent or fake. Furthermore, the test offered was allegedly not an official TOEFL but rather a standard online EPT test.
In response to the incident, Disdikpora DIY has spoken out. The Head of Planning and Data at Disdikpora DIY, Suci Rohmadi, stressed that the agency had never granted permission, provided recommendations, or entered into any official cooperation with the institution conducting the socialisation. She stated that the unauthorised use of the agency’s and the regional police’s names was an illegal act and a dissemination of misleading information, urging schools and the public not to easily trust individuals invoking official names without a verifiable official assignment letter.