Trapped In Fake WA Messages, Six Taxpayers In DIY Lost IDR 1 Billion

Head of the Cooperation and Public Relations Section of the DIY DGT Regional Office, Wiwin Nurbiyati, when met at the DIY DGT Building, Sleman, Wednesday (26/2/2025) (ANTARA)

YOGYAKARTA - The Regional Office of the Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) of the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) revealed that six taxpayers in their area were victims of fraud on behalf of the DGT with a total loss estimated at IDR 1 billion.

"We received reports from six taxpayers from Sleman and Wonosari, Gunungkidul. They were deceived after receiving a WhatsApp message that seemed to come from the DGT," said Head of the Cooperation and Public Relations Section of the DIY DGT Regional Office, Wiwin Nurbiyati, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, February 27.

Based on reports received from November 2024 to January 2025, six victims admitted to receiving WhatsApp (WA) messages from parties on behalf of the DGT.

In the message, he said, the fraudster included a number of personal data of the victim such as the NPWP, the name of the business owner, business license, and the name of the company.

Because it seemed convincing, the victims followed the directions given without confirming it with the nearest DGT or tax office.

They were directed to click on the data change link and asked to pay Rp10,000 instead of stampai.

"After that they did, less than 5 seconds of money in the savings at M-banking was sold out, all of them were lost. They reported it to us," said Wiwin.

Another mode used by the perpetrators is to send fake application files that are referred to as "tax apps". When the victim installs the application, their banking system is hacked and used to automatically drain the contents of the account.

Wiwin suspects that the number of victims could be more because it is possible that not all of them reported.

"We don't know if there are six for those who don't report, maybe there are also. Only those who report to us are six and that's a total of almost Rp. 1 billion. We have asked the person concerned to report it to the police," he said.

According to Wiwin, such frauds are rife to coincide with the period of changing taxpayer data to the beliax system. Fraudsters take advantage of this momentum to create traps that look like official DGT procedures.

Therefore, he asked the public to be more vigilant by observing every message received so that there are no more victims of fraud on behalf of the DGT.

Wiwin emphasized that the DGT has never sent a link or file "APK" to taxpayers and only uses the official email ending @pajak.go.id as well as the official website ending tax.go.id.

"If you receive a suspicious message, immediately confirm it to the DGT through the official number 1500200 or come directly to the nearest tax office. Don't just believe it," said Wiwin.