Investment Alert Task Force Finds 120 Illegal Fintechs This January

JAKARTA - The Investment Alert Task Force found that many illegal peer to peer lending activities are still circulating and have the potential to harm the public. Investment Alert Task Force Chairman Tongam Lumban Tobing said the Task Force's search results in January had found 120 entities that carry out illegal peer to peer lending activities that are not registered with the OJK.

“There are many illegal peer to peer lending activities on websites, applications or offers via SMS that are circulating. We always ask the public to be vigilant in order to take advantage of the fintech peer to peer lending list registered with the OJK, "said Tongam in a written statement, Friday, January 31.

According to Tongam, the public must also be kept informed to be careful about how easy it is to offer borrowing money from peer to peer lending fintech companies, given the responsibility for repaying borrowed funds.

"Borrowing money anywhere must be responsible for paying it. The danger is that if borrowing from illegal peer to peer lending fintech, the community can become victims of threats and intimidation if they are in arrears, ”he said.

Previously, in 2019, the Investment Alert Task Force stopped 1,494 illegal peer to peer lending activities. The total number that has been handled by the Investment Alert Task Force from 2018 to January 2020 is 2,018 entities.

28 Business Activities Without Permits

In addition to illegal peer to peer lending activities, the Investment Alert Task Force also stopped 28 business activities that were suspected of carrying out business activities without permission from the competent authorities and had the potential to harm the community.

Of the 28 entities, among them carry out the following activities:

1. 13 Trading Forex without a license.

2. 3 forest settlement offers.

3. 2 Invest in game money.

4.2 Illegal Equity Crowdfunding.

5. 2 Multi Level Marketing without permission.

6. 1 Dairy cattle investment.

7. 1 Property investment.

8. 1 pawnshop without permission.

9. 1 digital advertising platform.

10. 1 Unauthorized investing in cryptocurrencies.

11. 1 Cooperative without permission.

The Investment Alert Task Force also said that there were three entities handled by the Task Force that had obtained business permits, namely PT Dxplor Duta Media, PT Indonesia Wijaya Sejahtera, and PT Makin Jaya Agung. The latter has obtained a business license to carry out product sales activities using a direct selling system.

Then there is one entity that has proven that its activities are not fintech lending, namely the Indonesian Smart Bear Foundation, so that applications that have been blocked are normalized.

To accommodate complaints, consultations and direct outreach on various issues related to investment, fintech lending and illegal private pawning, the Task Force re-opened Warung Waspada Investasi, located at The Gade Coffee & Gold, Jalan H. Agus Salim, Central Jakarta. The Warung Waspada Investasi will operate every Friday at 09.00-11.00 WIB.

At the Investment Alert Stalls, representatives from 13 ministries / institutions who are members of the Investment Alert Task Force will attend to questions or complaints from the public regarding illegal investment activities, illegal fintech lending or illegal private pawning.

"So far, reports or inquiries from the public have mostly come in through communication channels such as OJK Contact 157, email consumer@ojk.go.id or waspadainvest@ojk.go.id. With this Warung, it is hoped that the public will be easier to report and ask questions directly, "said Tongam.