Police Reveal Reasons Why Indonesia Becomes New Base for Southeast Asian Online Gambling Syndicate

Police have revealed the reasons why Indonesia is now becoming a destination base for online crime syndicates, ranging from online gambling (judol), love scamming or romance fraud, to bogus investments.

The Secretary of the NCB Interpol Polri, Brigadier General Untung Widyatmoko, stated that in recent times, his team has indeed uncovered several such online crime syndicates in various cities. From Jakarta, Batam, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, to Denpasar.

“After being cracked down, there has been a shift to Indonesia, which we have anticipated and predicted,” said Untung during a press conference on the uncovering of an online gambling syndicate in the Hayam Wuruk area, West Jakarta, on Thursday (9/5).

Untung acknowledged that initially, the operational bases of these online crime syndicates were in other Southeast Asian regions, such as Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. However, after being regulated, they are now seeking refuge in other countries, one of which is Indonesia.

According to him, those coming to Indonesia are generally invited by previous syndicate perpetrators. They enter using tourist permits, in addition to the visa-free visit facilities. Moreover, Indonesia has recently been continuously promoting tourism.

That situation, according to him, is like two sides of a coin. While it increases tourist visits, they also use it for online criminal businesses like judol.

“That cannot be denied. We need tourist visits to Indonesia. But on the other hand, this is indeed like two sides of a coin,” he said.