OJK Warns of the Growing Threat of Scams
The Financial Services Authority (OJK) is intensifying efforts to strengthen consumer protection, particularly against the threat of scams or digital fraud that not only harm the public but can also affect trust in the financial services sector.
OJK is collaborating with various parties, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), to continuously improve stakeholders’ understanding of the various digital fraud modus operandi that continue to evolve across national borders and sectors.
This was conveyed by the Chair of the OJK Board of Commissioners, Friderica Widyasari Dewi, at a seminar entitled ‘Strengthening Defenses Against Scams: Addressing AML Vulnerabilities and Compliance in Digital Finance and Virtual Assets’ held by OJK in Jakarta on Monday.
‘Scams can cross national borders in seconds, leveraging technology on a massive scale, and damaging something far more valuable than money, which is trust,’ said Friderica.
According to her, trust is the main foundation of any financial system. Therefore, protecting the public from scams is not only about preventing financial loss but also about safeguarding the integrity of the financial system and ensuring that digital transformation continues to provide benefits.
Friderica explained that scams have evolved into a serious threat to the integrity of the financial system and public trust, so a strong foundation of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is needed to strengthen data exchange, intelligence information sharing, and cross-sector and cross-border coordination.
As digitalisation of the financial sector accelerates, the risk of scams grows increasingly complex through the use of money mule accounts, merchants and sub-merchants, digital payment systems, and virtual assets, which make it more difficult to track perpetrators.
Friderica noted that based on data from the Indonesia Anti-Scam Centre (IASC) as of June 2026, more than 608,000 fraud cases were recorded, with over 557,000 accounts successfully blocked, funds amounting to Rp674 billion secured or blocked, and nearly Rp200 billion in victim funds successfully returned.
UN Resident Coordinator in Indonesia Gita Sabharwal expressed high appreciation for Indonesia and the OJK for their role and efforts in leading the Indonesia Anti-Scam Centre to strengthen defences against fraud.
Echoing Friderica’s view, Gita stated that the prevention and handling of scam crimes must continue to be strengthened given their impact, which can erode public trust in the financial services sector. ‘Beyond the immediate financial losses, every successful scam erodes trust in digital financial services and weakens the foundation upon which financial inclusion is built. Therefore, protecting this trust is crucial,’ she said.
She added that Indonesia’s digital transformation creates opportunities for inclusion, innovation, and growth. However, these benefits can only be realised if the public has trust in the systems that support them.
She noted that the partnership between UNODC and OJK is invaluable because it enables various parties, including UN agencies like UNODC, to provide policy expertise, technical assistance, and global insights to strengthen defences against fraud.
Resident Advisor of the United States Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Justin Brown emphasised the importance of public and private sector collaboration in providing consumer protection against online fraud.
‘Online fraud is no longer just a law enforcement issue. It is also a challenge for the financial sector, regulators, and consumer protection that requires a strong response through public and private sector collaboration,’ said Brown.
He added that criminal networks operating across national borders require handling through strong international cooperation.
The seminar also featured a High-Level Dialogue with speakers from UNODC, the Singapore Police Force, and the banking sector, discussing the urgency of cross-border scam threats and the importance of strengthening public-private partnerships for effective fraud prevention and handling.
Additionally, a technical discussion session presented speakers from the Indonesia Anti-Scam Centre (IASC), OJK, Bank Indonesia, and the banking industry to discuss measures for strengthening customer due diligence, transaction monitoring systems, merchant and sub-merchant supervision, and the use of technology in detecting and tracing transaction patterns indicative of fraudulent activity.
Through this forum, stakeholders from the public and private sectors strengthened their shared commitment to building a more resilient anti-scam ecosystem through public-private partnerships. The discussion emphasised the importance of fast and effective information exchange, strengthening fraud intelligence and detection, enhancing industry capacity, and cross-sector and cross-border collaboration to support more integrated efforts in preventing, handling, and recovering losses from scams.
As a concrete implementation of public-private partnerships, the Indonesia Anti-Scam Centre (IASC) continues to strengthen coordination between regulators, financial services industry players, payment service providers, law enforcement officials, and other stakeholders to accelerate the handling of scam reports, the blocking of accounts related to fraud, and the recovery of victim funds. The success in returning victim funds through IASC coordination demonstrates that cross-sector collaboration can deliver tangible benefits to the public.
OJK believes that strengthening public-private partnerships, both at the national and international levels, will be a key factor in building a resilient financial ecosystem.