OJK Develops App to Help Public Identify Legal and Illegal Financial Entities
The Financial Services Authority (OJK) is developing an application to assist the public in identifying legal and illegal financial service entities as part of an effort to strengthen consumer protection against various investment fraud methods.
OJK Executive Head of Financial Service Business Conduct, Education, and Consumer Protection, Dicky Kartikoyono, stated that the development of this application is part of leveraging technology to improve literacy and consumer protection within the financial services sector. “We at OJK are currently working to develop an application that can help identify which are legal and which are illegal. This is an effort that certainly utilises technology,” Dicky said during a virtual press conference held in Jakarta on Tuesday.
According to him, the presence of this application is expected to help the public apply the “2L” principle—meaning ‘legal’ and ‘logical’—before using financial services or investing. Dicky explained that the public must first ensure the legality of financial service providers and remain wary of investment offers promising high returns.
He noted that such patterns are frequently used in ‘pig butchering’ scams, a type of fraud that begins by building trust with victims through various conveniences and fake profits before eventually preventing the withdrawal of funds. He added that in many cases of pig butchting scams, victims only realise they have been defrauded when large sums of accumulated funds can no longer be withdrawn.
He also urged the public not to easily trust investment offers from unknown parties or those circulating on social media, to maintain the confidentiality of personal data such as PINs and One-Time Passwords (OTP), and to always verify information before making investment decisions. He added that the public can also consult with parties who understand financial products or with family members before placing funds into an investment instrument.
As part of the efforts to eradicate illegal financial activities, OJK noted that it had received 22,206 complaints related to illegal entities between 1 January and 30 June 2026. Of that number, 19,169 complaints related to illegal online loans, 2,878 concerned illegal investments, and 159 related to illegal pawnbroking.
OJK, together with members of the Task Force for the Eradication of Illegal Financial Activities (Satgas PASTI), banking industry associations, and payment system providers, continues to strengthen the Indonesia Anti-Scam Centre (IASC). Since it began operating on 22 November 2024 until 30 June 2026, the IASC has received 608,167 fraud reports, consisting of 296,405 reports from financial sector business actors and 311,762 reports submitted directly by victims.
From these reports, 1,085,607 accounts have been reported, with 557,751 of them blocked. The IASC has also successfully blocked victim funds worth Rp674.1 billion and returned funds amounting to Rp196.93 billion from accounts in 19 banks used by fraudsters. Additionally, the IASC has identified 132,583 telephone numbers reported by victims and will continue to increase its capacity to accelerate the handling of fraud cases in the financial sector.