Dozens arrested for Indonesian love scam ring targeting American men
DENPASAR: Indonesian police have arrested dozens on the popular resort island of Bali for allegedly running a love scam syndicate targeting American men, they said Wednesday.
Police made the arrests after being tipped off about suspicious activity at a rented home in Denpasar, the island's capital.
A total of 38 suspects, seven of them women, were arrested.
'They pretended to be women by using women's pictures and fake identity to ensnare their victims,' Bali police chief Daniel Adityajaya told a press conference.
The scammers confessed they were working for someone who controlled the business from Cambodia to lure American men to hand over sensitive information, he said.
They chatted up their victims through the Telegram messenger app and sent them fake links.
The suspects were paid $200 each per month to steal the victims' data and information, Daniel said.
The suspects, all Indonesians, face up to 12 years in prison if found guilty of violating the country's electronic transaction law.
Police had previously said many scammers had moved to Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries after China cracked down on domestic networks.
In 2019, Indonesian police arrested 85 Chinese nationals and six Indonesians over an online scam that tricked victims out of millions of dollars.
In 2023, they arrested 88 Chinese nationals in Batam, in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands, for running a syndicate that has scammed hundreds of victims in China by luring them into sexual acts and then blackmailing them with video footage.
Many of the victims were public officials, police said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Borneo Post
4 hours ago
- Borneo Post
Indonesian workers with expired social visit passes jailed 5 months for overstaying in Miri
According to the facts of the case, police and immigration officers conducted a joint raid on an entertainment centre along Jalan Kubu here at around 10pm on May 9, 2025 and detained six men for inspection. – Photo by Jenifer Laeng MIRI (June 12): Six foreign workers were each sentenced to five months in prison by the Sessions Court here today for overstaying here. Judge Afidah Abdul Rahman also ordered Indonesian nationals Andriyanto, 33, Wisnu Zaeni Malik, 21, Udin, 26, Rendi Farizi, 31, Ricky Muhamad Hakim, 22, and Rudi Ramli, 40, to be referred to the Immigration Department upon their release for deportation. The six were charged under Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, punishable under Section 15(4) of the same Act, which provides for a fine not exceeding RM10,000 or imprisonment for up to five years, or both, upon conviction. According to the facts of the case, police and immigration officers conducted a joint raid on an entertainment centre along Jalan Kubu here at around 10pm on May 9, 2025 and detained six men for inspection. Checks revealed they were Indonesian citizens whose social visit passes had expired. In separate proceedings in the same courtroom, Judge Afidah sentenced an Indonesian woman and her two male counterparts to three months' jail each after they pleaded guilty to abusing their social visit passes. Muhammad Mauludin, 30, Mujahidin Adu, 43, and Aliza, 25, were charged under Regulation 11(7) of the Immigration Regulations 1963, punishable under Regulation 39(b) of the same law, which carries imprisonment not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding RM1,000, or both, upon conviction. They committed the offence at around 4.35pm on May 8, 2025 by working at a restaurant in the Saberkas Commercial Centre here, thus violating their social visit passes. In mitigation, the trio pleaded to the court for a lenient sentence, citing this was their first offence. Immigration Department Miri enforcement officer Abdul Sophian Mohamad prosecuted both cases, while all of the accused were unrepresented by legal counsel. Indonesian workers jail miri overstaying
The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
Freelancer fined RM20,000 for selling obscene content
SEPANG: A freelancer was fined RM20,000 by the Sessions Court here today after pleading guilty to distributing obscene and sexually explicit videos for commercial purposes in February last year. Judge Ahmad Fuad Othman handed down the sentence to Ahmad Ali Madali, 40, and ordered a six-month jail term in default of payment. The man was charged with knowingly using a Telegram account to transmit obscene communication by providing access to the Telegram group 'Swinger Melayu VVIP XXXX,' which contained pornographic videos, for commercial purposes to an undercover agent from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) at 10.05 pm on Feb 10, 2024. The charge was framed under Section 233(2)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, punishable under Section 233(3) of the same Act, which provides for a maximum fine of RM50,000, a jail term of up to one year, or both, upon conviction. Based on the facts of the case, a check on the mobile phone used by the accused revealed a Touch 'n Go e-wallet transaction history of RM400 made to him by the undercover agent. Ahmad Fuad said the offence had a significant impact on public morality and was contrary to Islamic values and the Rukun Negara principles. 'Society today is becoming increasingly indecent, and if this trend continues, it will lead to serious problems. Public morality must be upheld, and such activities must be appropriately punished,' he said. The charge was handled by MCMC prosecuting officer Mohamad Azmir Mohd Razali, while the accused was unrepresented. Pleading for leniency, Ahmad Adli said that he had no fixed income, was supporting his wife and three-year-old child, and was paying for his father-in-law's medical expenses. However, the prosecution urged the court to impose a heavy sentence on Ahmad Ali, citing the severity of the offence and its negative impact on society, noting that children could potentially access the videos. The accused then paid the fine.
The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
Immigration swoops on ‘Dugem' nightspot packed with foreigners in Pudu and callgirls hotspot in Klang
KUALA LUMPUR: The Immigration Department (JIM) detained 188 illegal immigrants while they were mesmerised with 'Dugem', or thumping Indonesian techno-dance music that has invaded the Malaysian scene, in a raid on a nightspot in Pudu here at 2 am on Wednesday (yesterday). JIM said a total of 310 patrons comprising 128 foreign men and 116 foreign women and 66 local citizens were checked, leading to the detention of 106 Indonesian men and 79 women, one Cambodian man and woman and one Nepalese man, all aged between 21 and 35 years old, for offences including overstaying and lacking valid travel documents. The JIM statement said all the foreigners were detained under Section 51(5)(b) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and placed at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Lenggeng immigration depots for further investigations and action. In the special night operation enforced by 129 immigration officers and 11 National Registration Department officers, eight summonses were also issued against the supervisor and caretaker of the nightspot as well as a woman deejay. According to the statement, the centre opens for business from 11 pm to 5 am while local and foreign DJs play hypnotic Dugem music to keep foreign patrons engrossed. In KLANG, the Selangor Immigration Department (JIM) arrested 12 foreigners during a raid on an entertainment centre believed to be a transit point for guest relations officers (GRO) in Bandar Bukit Tinggi here through Op Gegar last night. Selangor JIM director Khairrul Aminus Kamaruddin said those arrested in the raid that began at 9.30 pm consisted of seven Cambodian women, two Vietnamese and one Thai, aged between 21 and 35, who were suspected of offering sexual services to customers in Klang. He said two men working as bartenders, a Pakistani and a Vietnamese, were also nabbed. 'Their modus operandi is for negotiations initiated on social media before meeting customers at the nightspot and after an agreement is reached, GROs will be taken to hotels for a fee of between RM150 and RM300 per hour,' he said after the operation ended at midnight yesterday. Khairrul Aminus said the cases are being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) and Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 as well as Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1963 for misusing social visit passes. He said the raid involved 21 officers and all detainees were taken to the Selangor Immigration Office for further action. In a separate case, Khairrul Aminus said four illegal immigrants (PATI) including a married couple with a one-year-old boy were arrested under Op Sapu at 10.20 pm at a rented house in Taman Klang Jaya. He said the raid follows complaints about the noisy house being used as a transit point for foreigners.
