Promising Profits from Trash Photos, Residents Lose Tens of Millions: NTT OJK Confirms VIR is Illegal and a Ponzi Scheme

Head of the East Nusa Tenggara Financial Services Authority (OJK) Japarmen Manalu. (ANTARA/Yoseph Boli Bataona)

KUPANG - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province has confirmed that the money-making app Veolia International Resource (VIR) is an illegal application operating as a Ponzi scheme.

The Head of the NTT OJK, Japarmen Manalu, stated that the app does not have a permit and is not registered with the OJK, making it illegal. "The VIR app is not registered with the OJK and is not licensed. So it is illegal," Japarmen stated in Kupang, Antara News Agency, Tuesday, November 19.

This statement follows the widespread use of the VIR app, which claims to allow people to earn money simply by uploading photos of trash.

"This indicates a Ponzi scheme because every new member of the app must deposit a certain amount of money as a registration requirement," he said.

Japarmen explained that a Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent method that promises high returns and low risk, but existing members' profits actually come from deposits from new members, not from real business activities.

"A Ponzi scheme will stop completely at a certain point, when there are no more new members," he said.

He added that the VIR app often exploits community leaders and public figures to encourage people to join. In fact, in one day last week, the NTT Financial Services Authority (OJK) received three complaints from victims, alleging losses of Rp 40 million, Rp 9 million, and Rp 4 million, respectively.

The victims were asked to deposit money as a "gift tax" before withdrawing funds from the app.

"We are providing an understanding that schemes like this are unusual and usually involve fraud or fraudulent investments," said Japarmen.

The NTT OJK reports each complaint to the central office in real time and coordinates with the Illegal Financial Activities Eradication Task Force (Satgas PASTI) and the Indonesia Anti-Scam Center (IASC), including efforts to block accounts associated with the VIR app.

"The most we can do is raise awareness. When an offer like this is made, the public needs to check two things: legality and logic (2L)," said Japarmen.

The OJK urges the public to check the legality of financial applications through the official OJK website or service 157. The public can also report findings related to VIR through the numbers [phone], 081157157157, or directly to the NTT OJK Office.