Targeted by a Fraud Mafia, Car-Rental Bosses Fight to Protect Their Assets and Seek Justice
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The fear often haunts car-rental entrepreneurs as they navigate a business that appears lucrative. For rental operators, each car is not merely a tool of business but an asset built up from savings, loans, and years of hard work. They hope the vehicles they bought will last and continue to generate income to support their families back home. Recently, rental business owners have faced a real threat from fraud mafias. Fleet bosses are frequently duped by criminals who pretend to rent cars officially, presenting a long string of identity documents. As a result, owners often have to fight to recover vehicles that have been taken away by mafias. They trace the perpetrators, the networks of receivers, and search for information from partners in different cities. The struggle is long and exhausting, while legal processes are often slow.
One resident of North Jakarta, Adi Supriyatna (40), says he has been in the car-rental business for 12 years and currently has six vehicles active for hire. The cars were bought through years of hard work, so he takes great care of them. Yet the cars are relentlessly targeted by fraud mafias. He claims to have fallen victim to mafias three times, nearly losing his rental cars. Despite implementing various measures to safeguard his assets, they still slip through the cracks as mafias employ a thousand methods to steal his vehicles.
“KTP, SIM, Kartu Keluarga, and home verification — the screening is strict and there are SOPs, but it still leaks because people cannot always be trusted,” Adi said in an interview in the Tanjung Priok area, North Jakarta, on Thursday (5 March 2026).
In addition, Adi equipped every rental car with two GPS devices so it can always be located if taken by a renter. He also never provided the original STNK to renters to prevent sale or pawning to others. Usually, operators provide scanned STNK with the company stamp. Yet these measures sometimes fail as mafias have a thousand tricks to remove the cars.
Whenever a car is taken, rental operators strive to seek justice to recover their vehicles. This was the case with Adi when he was duped by a mafia member identified only by the initial ‘S’, who allegedly took his rental car, a silver Daihatsu All New Terios 2023. The incident occurred around 2024 when S visited Adi’s rental business to lease the car on a monthly basis. S paid Rp 7.5 million for one month because he wanted to take it to his hometown in Pamekasan, Madura, East Java.
“In the second month, he confirmed he would continue for another month because he still had business in Madura; the car was in Madura already, so yes, pay for the second month,” Adi said.
Adi rushed to confront S at his residence near Monas, Central Jakarta, but the suspect could not be found. With S unavailable in Jakarta, Adi decided to travel to Pamekasan and sought assistance from a police officer there to act as a mediator in the event of a dispute.