Indonesian Citizens Lose Rp 9.1 Trillion Daily to Scams, 1,000 People Report
Digital crimes involving scams are causing significant losses to Indonesian society on a daily basis. The Financial Services Authority (OJK) records that at least Rp 9.1 trillion in citizens’ funds are lost every day due to scam cases.
“There is Rp 9.1 trillion in public funds reported lost to these scams, in which the IASC has successfully blocked or saved Rp 432 billion,” said OJK Chair Friderica Widyasari Dewi during a working meeting with Commission XI at the DPR RI Building in Jakarta in March 2026, quoted on Saturday (11/4/2026).
OJK data as of 14 January 2026 indicates at least 432,637 public complaints have been collected from the Indonesia Anti-Scam Center (IASC).
The highest distribution of scam reports comes from Java, which still dominates with more than 303,000 reports. “Followed by Sumatra and so on,” said Friderica.
The woman, familiarly known as Kiki, explained that the reported scam methods are varied, starting from shopping transaction fraud with 73,000 reports, followed by fake calls, investment scams, job scams, and scams promising prizes.
Given the high development of such fraud, Kiki said, OJK greatly appreciates the support from all stakeholders and the public in eradicating scams and illegal online lending activities.
On the other hand, OJK admits there are specific challenges in handling these scams, including a surge in complaints reaching around 1,000 reports per day, or 3-4 times higher than in other countries.
“What we also coordinate and collaborate on with other countries is not as many as in Indonesia. Perhaps 150 reports per day, 300, 400, but in Indonesia it can reach a thousand reports per day,” she stated.
According to her, this shows the high escalation of fraud crimes in Indonesian society. This challenge is exacerbated by the fact that most reports, or around 80%, are submitted more than 12 hours after the incident. Meanwhile, in practice, scam proceeds can be transferred and exit the victim’s account in less than 1 hour.
“This time gap is a crucial factor in determining whether the victim’s funds can still be saved or not,” she added.
On the other hand, the pattern of fund flight is also becoming increasingly complex, posing its own challenges. If previously it only circulated in the banking sector, now victims’ funds do not stop at one bank account but are quickly redirected to various instruments and digital ecosystems.
“From accounts in other banks, e-wallets, crypto assets, digital gold, to e-commerce platforms and other digital financial assets. This situation demands increased speed in cross-system blocking, across industry players, and also across sectors,” she concluded.