Rizky Ramadhan, Jakarta – The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has successfully shut down operations of 2,248 illegal online loans (pinjol) and 40 illegal investments in 2023.
Friderica Widyasari Dewi, Executive Head of Supervision of Financial Business Players' Behavior, Education, and Consumer Protection at OJK, revealed that the agency received 9,380 complaints. Out of these, 8,991 complaints were related to illegal online loans, while 388 were linked to illegal investments. Illegal investments include unlicensed robot trading, crypto exchange, and forex trading.
"OJK, together with all members of the Pasti Task Force (Illegal Financial Activity Eradication Task Force), continues to address cases of illegal investments and online loans," Friderica said in Jakarta, on Tuesday.
From 2017 to 2023, a total of 8,149 illegal financial entities were stopped by the Pasti Task Force, including 1,218 illegal investments, 6,680 illegal online loans, and 251 illegal pawn activities.
Friderica warned the public to exercise caution when responding to online loan service offers. One of the signs of illegal online loans is the solicitation of services through short messages, including SMS and instant messaging applications like WhatsApp.
Dian Ediana Rae, Executive Head of Banking Supervision at OJK, said that they have collaborated continuously with banks to eliminate illegal activities, aiming to minimize the room for maneuvering by wrongdoers in the banking system.
The crackdown on illegal activities in banking aligns with the law on the Development and Strengthening of the Financial Sector (UU P2SK) as a commitment to combat fraudulent practices in the financial system.