Lampung Provincial Police Uncover 'Love Scamming' Case Operated from Kotabumi Detention Centre

Bandar Lampung (ANTARA) - The Lampung Regional Police (Polda Lampung) has uncovered a love scamming case perpetrated by inmates from the Class IIB Kotabumi Detention Centre. “The revelation of this case resulted from cooperation or joint investigation with the Ministry of Immigration, enabling the exposure of the love scamming operation controlled from within the Kotabumi Detention Centre,” said Lampung Police Chief Inspector General Helfi Assegaf in Lampung Province on Monday. He stated that in this case, at least 137 detainees in the facility are suspected of being involved in the group-based love scamming criminal activity. The Police Chief noted that based on the investigation results, the number of identified victims exceeds 1,200, with 671 of them related to online-based sexual exploitation. “From that number, 249 victims are known to have transferred money to the perpetrators. The victims hail from various regions, including East Java and Lampung, with total estimated losses reaching Rp1.4 billion,” he said. He explained that the modus operandi employed by the perpetrators involved creating social media accounts with fake profiles resembling members of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) or Police to deceive their victims. He further emphasised that Polda Lampung will continue to delve deeper into this case and identify all further involved parties. “Currently, the involved inmates have been transferred from the Kotabumi Detention Centre to the Bandar Lampung Detention Centre to facilitate the ongoing investigation process,” he said.