The Bali Regional Police's Cyber Investigation Directorate (Ditressiber) has named 38 online fraud actors targeting foreign nationals from the United States.
Bali Police Chief Inspector General Daniel Adityajaya said the suspects manipulated personal data to be considered authentic under the guise of love scams operating since November 2023.
"They operate in four places in Denpasar City. The team conducted searches at the four locations and secured related evidence and suspects," said Daniel as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, June 11.
Daniel explained that the suspects who were arrested acted as broadcasters or operators who were tasked with finding love scam targets targeting the telegram accounts of United States citizens.
"The modus operandi of the suspects is to pretend or act as if they are women using several photos of women that are equipped with fake personal data to trick the victims, especially those using telegram accounts belonging to US citizens," he continued.
Furthermore, said the Kapolda, the suspects sent a special telegram link to the victim to obtain the victim's personal data such as full name, address and others.
From the target that the operators managed to get, they got a bonus of US$1 per data.
In addition, the perpetrators get a wage of US$ 200 per month.
The perpetrators operate from five rental places in Denpasar, namely Jalan Nusa Kambangan Denpasar, Jalan Nangka Utara Kusuma Sari Denpasar, Jalan Gustiwa III Denpasar, Jalan Irawan Gang 2, Ubung Kaja Denpasar and Jalan Swamandala III Denpasar.
"The motive of the economic actors where the suspects are promised a salary that is quite large from the target obtained," he said.
The evidence confiscated from five crime scenes was 82 units of various brands, 47 Advan-brand computer PCs.
The perpetrators were charged with Article 35 in conjunction with Article 51 paragraph (1) of Law Number 11 of 2008 as amended by Law Number 1 of 2024 concerning Electronic Transactions and Information in conjunction with Article 55 of the Criminal Code with a maximum imprisonment of 12 years and a maximum fine of 12 billion.
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