QR Code Sticker Used in Online Gambling Scam in South Jakarta, Allowing Auto-Deposit

Police have arrested a man identified as SP alias P, believed to be responsible for placing matrix-code QR stickers promoting online gambling (judol) at motorcycle parking areas and in a warung kopi in South Jakarta. Police described the act as a new scam modus operandi. ‘The barcode, when scanned, apparently leads directly to one of the online gambling sites suspected of being a scam,’ said Pesanggrahan Police Sector Chief, Kompol Seala Syah Alam, at a press conference at the Pesanggrahan Police Station on Thursday, 5 March 2026. In the course of the case, investigators found that the site’s servers are located abroad. Therefore, authorities are continuing to develop the case. ‘After we delved deeper, it turned out the site’s VPN is not connected to Indonesia but abroad,’ he said. Seala noted that if scanned, the QR code can potentially steal the phone owner’s data and even deposit money into the online gambling site. He warned residents not to scan barcodes indiscriminately. ‘Indeed, because this is a scam, personal data is moved directly. Because this is a scam, deposits into the online gambling site may be automatically triggered,’ he said. ‘Deposits from personal data, so we urge the public to be careful when scanning barcodes as this is one of the new methods used by criminals,’ he added. The action of the perpetrators sticking matrix codes (QR/quick response code) for online gambling (judol) went viral on social media. Police identified the two men in the video. In a video circulating on social media, a man wearing an orange T-shirt and a pink cap is seen sticking stickers on a parked motorcycle and on a wall. After applying the stickers, the perpetrators appear to photograph the objects with their mobile phones. Meanwhile, the other man waits on a motorcycle without a number plate (TNKB). After placing the stickers, the two men leave the scene. (tsy/wnv)