Mafindo: Indonesia Faces a Digital Fraud Emergency
The Indonesian Anti-Slander Society (Mafindo) states that Indonesia is facing a digital fraud emergency. The fraud not only targets individuals but has become a threat to national digital economic resilience. Mafindo’s data indicates that the methods of fraud are becoming more sophisticated, utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) with increasingly difficult-to-counter deepfake and social engineering techniques.
“The attacks exceed the basic digital literacy skills of the community,” said the Chairman of the Mafindo Presidium, Septiaji Eko Nugroho, in a press release received by Tempo on Wednesday, February 25, 2026. This was explained during a Focused Group Discussion (DKT) entitled “Multi-Party Collaboration for Combating Digital Fraud Crimes” in Jakarta on Tuesday, February 24, 2026.
The community’s unpreparedness, he said, places Indonesia in the second-lowest position in the 2025 Global Fraud Index. Indonesia is lagging due to regulatory gaps and low literacy, especially in the area of digital security, resulting in a sharp increase in losses suffered by the community, which is disproportionate to the number of perpetrators caught and funds returned.
The Indonesia Anti Scam Center (IASC) received 432,637 reports or complaints from the public up to January 2026. The total losses from this fraud were recorded by the Financial Services Authority (OJK) at IDR 9.1 trillion. Meanwhile, the IASC managed to block or save IDR 432 billion.
Mafindo encourages multi-party collaboration to address the digital fraud emergency, starting with improving digital security for the community. The forum was attended by various parties, including regulators, law enforcement, the financial services industry, academics, and digital literacy communities. Mafindo launched a Policy Brief on Multi-Party Collaboration for Combating Digital Fraud Crimes.
The author of the Policy Brief, Cahya Suryani, said they conducted a survey in five cities at the end of 2025 and analyzed the root of the problem. Mafindo recommends six strategic policy priorities to address the digital fraud emergency, starting with the development of an integrated one-stop reporting system and the restructuring of regulations. The goal is to provide legal certainty for banking and law enforcement agencies.
It also emphasizes the importance of cross-sector coordination in implementing an AI-based early warning system on digital infrastructure, strengthening user identity verification for mobile devices and messaging platforms in accordance with the latest regulations. Finally, it calls for the development of digital literacy focused on mitigating psychological manipulation from a victim’s perspective, in order to restore public trust and accelerate response efforts.
“With this approach, the country can prevent and overcome the digital fraud emergency, which has the potential to damage the nation’s economy and erode public trust in digital transformation in Indonesia,” said Cahya.
Mafindo requests that the OJK create regulations to protect banking customers with Money Lock and Kill Switch features. It also asks the Ministry of Digital Communications to create regulations for labeling AI content on social media platforms.