Police Fraud Scam Residents Rp87 Million, Three Suspects Arrested

PURWOREJO - The Criminal Investigation Unit (Satreskrim) of the Purworejo Police has uncovered a cyber crime case in the form of a "fake police" scam that resulted in the victim suffering losses of tens of millions of rupiah. Three suspects were arrested in the case.

Deputy Head of the Purworejo Police, Kompol Nana Edi Sugito, said the case began when the victim named Subekti, a resident of Keseneng Village, received a phone call from the suspect with the initials IM (23) who pretended to be his friend. The perpetrator admitted that he was being detained by the police because of a vehicle letter problem and asked for help with a bail.

"Initially the suspect asked for a bail of Rp2 million," said Nana, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, February 4.

Not long after, the victim was contacted again by another suspect with the initials RM (37) who claimed to be a police officer. The perpetrator said the vehicle was the result of theft and asked the victim to prepare a certain amount of money to settle the case.

Because he believed and was psychologically depressed, the victim finally transferred money gradually until a total of Rp. 87 million. The money was transferred to the account of the deposit account belonging to the suspect NPOS (30).

After waiting for his friend to be released but he did not come, the victim realized that he had become a victim of fraud and reported to the Purworejo Police.

The police team then conducted an investigation and managed to track down the whereabouts of the perpetrators. The three were arrested in the Karawang area, West Java.

From the suspect's hands, the police confiscated a number of mobile phones used to carry out the fraud. Meanwhile, from the victim's side, investigators secured evidence of account mutations and transaction screenshots as evidence.

For their actions, the suspects were charged with Article 492 or Article 486 of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code (KUHP) related to fraud or embezzlement.

The police appealed to the public to be more vigilant about phone calls in the name of family, friends, or law enforcement officers claiming to ask for money.

"Immediately verify or come directly to the nearest police station. Don't easily believe if there is a request for money transfer," said Nana.