JAGALAH WARGA coalition launches digital transaction complaints centre
Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Jaringan Advokasi Perlindungan Hak Warga Negara (JAGALAH WARGA) coalition has launched a complaints centre for cases involving unauthorised digital transactions. It aims to strengthen advocacy and defend the rights of customers who have fallen victim to scams or bank account breaches.
“The state must not leave citizens to fight on their own. It must require the use of electronic certificates through trusted Electronic Certification Providers to verify identity and the authenticity of every high-risk transaction, because public trust is the foundation of the digital economy,” public policy analyst and coalition representative Saidiman Ahmad said in a statement in Jakarta on Saturday.
The centre is part of the coalition’s effort to secure legal protection for victims of unauthorised transactions, who it says are often left to bear the burden of proof when disputing transactions with financial service providers.
The coalition has also urged the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs and the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to strengthen supervision and accountability among financial institutions and telecommunications providers to prevent the misuse of data and transaction-verification systems.
At a discussion entitled “Defending Public Rights: Citizens’ Vulnerability in Digital Transactions”, the coalition highlighted the vulnerabilities of verification systems that rely on one-time passwords (OTPs). These are particularly concerning when customers’ no-longer-active mobile numbers are recycled but remain linked to their bank accounts.
The coalition said criminals could exploit this loophole to make transactions without the account or credit-card holder’s consent, while customers are then held responsible for the resulting losses.
According to data from the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) cited by the coalition, about 66 per cent of adults in Indonesia have been victims of digital scams, with national losses totalling Rp9.1 trillion.
Several victims at the discussion also shared their experiences of unauthorised transactions and difficulties obtaining a resolution from financial service providers.
One victim, identified by the initials JT, said her credit card had been used fraudulently 15 times in the middle of the night while she was asleep.
She said the bank rejected her dispute on the grounds that the transactions had been authorised using an OTP and were therefore deemed to have been made by the cardholder.
However, according to Jessica, the perpetrator was suspected of having used her old telephone number, which she had stopped using in 2021. The number had been recycled by the telecommunications provider but was still registered to her credit-card account.
Jessica said the bank later offered to negotiate the bill and agreed to reduce part of the amount owed after the case attracted attention on social media platform Threads.
Another victim, AF, said they only discovered that their account balance had been emptied when checking it at an automated teller machine (ATM), despite not using mobile banking.
“I was simply given a list of transaction records that the bank considered valid, with no further accountability. The entire tracing process was left to the victim, who had to find the perpetrator themselves,” they said.
Meanwhile, AS said they became a victim after opening a link that was subsequently used by a perpetrator to hack their account and make unauthorised transactions.
Responding to the victims’ accounts, Halili Hasan of the SETARA Institute said GASA data showed that about 16 per cent of digital scam victims were reluctant to report incidents and tended to blame themselves.
He said this could leave service providers’ responsibility to address weaknesses in their security systems overlooked.
The JAGALAH WARGA coalition is therefore calling for improvements to transaction-verification systems and stronger consumer protection, so that dispute resolution does not place responsibility unilaterally on customers.
People wishing to report or seek advice about unauthorised transactions can contact the JAGALAH WARGA complaints centre on 08-1313-7171-45 or via Instagram at @koalisijagalahwarga.