Woman in West Jakarta Claims to Be Victim of Armed Robbery Disguised as Debt Collection, Police Respond

A video recording a woman alleging she became a victim of armed robbery disguised as debt collection in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, has gone viral on social media. However, police have confirmed that the incident was not an armed robbery.

The video, posted on Instagram account @jakarta.terkini, shows a woman shouting at a group of approximately eight men riding four motorcycles. “These are the perpetrators, look at their faces, suddenly they blocked my motorcycle. I’m going to make their faces viral,” the woman says in the video.

The woman alleged her motorcycle was claimed to have outstanding payments from a financing company (leasing). She insisted she had no arrears as the instalments had been fully paid. Feeling threatened, she screamed for help from nearby residents. She also alleged that one of the men attempted to forcibly take her motorcycle key, but was unsuccessful.

As more residents gathered at the scene, the men eventually left the location.

The Cengkareng Police’s Criminal Investigation Unit responded to the circulating information by visiting the scene. The head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the West Jakarta Metropolitan Police, AKBP Arfan Zulkan Sipayung, stated that based on inspection of the scene, the incident was not armed robbery.

However, Arfan did not provide further details regarding the complete sequence of events or the parties involved. To date, no formal complaint regarding alleged criminal activity in the incident has been received by police.