Ahead Of The Inauguration Of The Mayor Of Surabaya, Beware Of Fraud Copying Eri Cahyadi's Photo

The fraudster's account of Eri Cahyadi's name and photo circulated on Facebook social media. (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The fraudster's account of Eri Cahyadi's name and photo has circulated on Facebook social media ahead of the inauguration of the mayor and deputy mayor of Surabaya which is expected to be held at the end of February 2021.

Reported by Antara, Sunday, February 21, Spokesperson for the Winning Team Eri-Armudji Aprizaldi, in Surabaya, Sunday, said the account was spreading private messages on Facebook, offering entrepreneurial loans from the cooperative which was very lucrative.

"We confirm that the Facebook account named Eri Cahyadi is a fake account. So far, Eri has never had a personal account on Facebook. Eri only has a Facebook Page account," he said.

According to him, in the account on Facebook, a photo of Eri Cahyadi wearing a red shirt and black hat is displayed as a profile photo. The photo is a photo when Eri Cahyadi was announced as a candidate for mayor by PDI Perjuangan in September 2020.

Meanwhile, the background for the profile photo is the photo when Eri Cahyadi offered his mother, just before registering to the KPU in Surabaya.

"Mas Eri Cahyadi's Facebook Page account is the real one with the address https://www.facebook.com/ericahyadiec. Meanwhile, his Instagram account is @ericahyadi_. Apart from the two accounts, it is confirmed that the account is fake," said Aprizaldi.

The fake Facebook account created by the fraud was first posted on January 23, 2021 at 23.29 WIB. The first image is a photo of Eri Cahyadi pointing out his index finger during a public debate at the JW Marriot Hotel, Surabaya.

The next posts are photos of Eri during the campaign and when he was still active as the State Civil Apparatus (ASN) of the Surabaya City Government. The post was posted shortly after posting the first photo. Only a minute difference, namely at 23.32 WIB.

"We have received information that there is a message on Facebook in the name of Mas Eri Cahyadi. The message offers a 0 percent interest entrepreneurial capital loan program, a collaboration between the government and the Sinarmas Cooperative. The 50 percent installment fee per month is assisted by the government. Obviously this message is a fraudulent message. . Mas Eri never made this message, "he said.

Aldi, Aprizaldi's nickname, said it was fortunate that the fraud mode on Facebook was discovered earlier by the team. "There are some residents who ask directly to our team, so we can respond more quickly so there is no fraud," he said.

With the emergence of this fake account, continued Aprizaldi, the Eri-Armudji winning team will report to the Cyber Crime Police because it is feared that someone will become a victim of this fraud. It could, he said, with the lure of being assisted, the victim was asked for an amount of money or it could be that a copy of the ID and KK that was sent was misused.

"People who want to get a loan through the cooperative are required to send photocopies of their ID cards and family cards. Because KTPs and KKs are very personal administrative data of the population, they can be misused. For example, they are used to borrow online loans which only need a photocopy of KTP and KK. This is very dangerous, "he said.

Aldi is grateful that a number of residents who reported to the Eri-Armuji team were not fooled by this mode.

"That is because Mas Eri has been very open and close to the residents. So when there is something, many residents immediately WhatsApp to Mas Eri and the team, so no one is deceived," he said again.