New Modus Operandi: Online Gambling Rings Target Regional Influencers

The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) has uncovered a new modus operandi for online gambling promotions, with operators specifically targeting social media accounts that have high interaction rates. Minister Meutya Hafid stated that the majority of these spam attacks are directed at influencers from regional areas. “The distribution of targets shows that the accounts most spammed are those with high engagement, specifically 52% are regional influencers, followed by 31% government agency accounts, 12% mass media, and 5% public figures and politicians,” Meutya said during a press conference at the Komdigi office on Tuesday. She explained that regional influencers are considered more effective because their audiences align with the target market of online gambling operators. Furthermore, official accounts are targeted because it is more difficult for both the ministry and the platforms to cut off access to them once they are infiltrated by gambling spam. The ministry also noted that the spam attacks are conducted using automated machines. Reports indicate that the operation involves monitoring social media and detecting spikes in interaction before deploying thousands of spam comments across multiple platforms simultaneously. Meutya stressed that combating online gambling requires a joint effort between government institutions and social media platforms.