Man's Phone Snatched in Central Jakarta While Waiting for Ride-Hailing Car, Paylater Limit Drained

A mobile phone snatching case in Bendungan Hilir (Benhil), Central Jakarta, has gone viral on social media. Police are investigating the case and searching for the perpetrator.

The snatching occurred on Sunday (7/6) in the Benhil area, Tanah Abang District, Central Jakarta. The victim had his phone snatched while standing on the street waiting for an online taxi to pick him up.

In circulating video footage, the victim is a man standing at the roadside, accompanied by a woman beside him. Suddenly, a motorcyclist wearing a green jacket resembling an online motorcycle taxi rider approached from behind the victim and directly grabbed the phone. The motorcyclist immediately sped off.

After stealing the phone, the perpetrator allegedly bypassed the victim’s phone security system and drained the credit limit of paylater loans through digital wallet and e-commerce applications. The victim reportedly suffered losses amounting to tens of millions of rupiah.

The victim has reported the case to the police, who are conducting a series of investigations. “According to the Head of Criminal Investigation, the victim has reported the incident to the Tanah Abang Police Sector and the case is under investigation,” said Central Jakarta Metro Police Public Relations Head, Iptu Erlyn Sumantri, on Friday (19/6/2026).

Police are still gathering clues and evidence by taking statements from witnesses and searching for CCTV footage around the scene to solve the case and arrest the perpetrator. “Indeed, the point is that the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Tanah Abang Police Sector is working on the investigation; the case is still being examined,” he said.

In a post on the Instagram account @jakartapusat.info, Grab Indonesia commented on the incident. Grab stated it is also looking into the viral snatching case. “We are concerned about the incident in the video. Currently, we have received a direct report from the relevant complainant and are following it up seriously through an investigation process by our team,” Grab said via the @grabid account. “Grab is always committed to maintaining the safety and comfort of all users, and will cooperate with the authorities if required in the follow-up process of this report,” it added.