Modus Operandi of 13 Japanese Nationals' Online Scam Syndicate in Bogor: Posing as Police

Thirteen Japanese nationals are suspected of forming an online scam syndicate, detained by the Bogor Class IA Non-TPI Immigration Office in Sentul, West Java. The perpetrators pretended to be officers of the Japanese police.

“Thus these 13 individuals carried out online fraud in Indonesia, with victims being Japanese and the perpetrators Japanese impersonating, posing as members of the Japanese police,” said Brigadier General Yuldi Yusman, Acting Director General of Immigration at the Ministry of Immigration and Public Security, at a press conference at Bogor Immigration Office on Wednesday (4 March 2026).

During the disclosure, Yuldi said officers also seized Japanese police insignia, including identification and allegedly fake uniforms. In addition, police seized a large amount of communications equipment, including routers and signal jammers, from the location in Sentul, Bogor.

“Officers found a large quantity of communications devices, digital documents containing scripts and operational manuals for fraud, and Japanese police uniforms,” he said.

Yuldi added that several of the suspects acted by impersonating officers from one of the providers in Japan and accusing their victims of illegal acts, with fake identities and contracts.

Other perpetrators then intimidated victims by claiming to be Japanese police officers, equipped with arrest warrants and a judge’s ruling in Japan.

“The victims were directed to access fake web portals and view an arrest warrant marked with an emergency arrest, complete with the victim’s name, charges, the judge’s name, and a red stamp resembling a Japanese court’s stamp,” Yuldi said.

“The perpetrators directed victims to sell shares and liquidate investments, and to transfer large sums of money. That is the modus operandi of cybercrime in carrying out their criminal acts,” he added.