Jakarta – Police in Gambir, Central Jakarta, have arrested 20 individuals on suspicion of running a romance scam to trick foreign nationals into investing money in fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes.
Investigators allege that three Indonesian suspects, identified as INB, AKP and RW, are the leaders of the online fraud, while the 17 others are believed to have been paid monthly to work for them as scammers.
According to Gambir Police chief Comr. Rezeki Respati, the scammers created fake identities on popular dating apps to lure victims into online relationships for the purpose of perpetrating financial fraud.
"The operation's leaders earned Rp 7 million [US$431.59], while the scammers got Rp 5 million," Respati said on Tuesday, as quoted by Antara.
Police suspect that the 20 members of the operation are part of a scam syndicate headed by a Chinese national identified by their initials AJ, who is the subject of an ongoing manhunt.
All targeted victims so far were foreigners, mostly women "from Vietnam, the Philippines or Thailand", said Respati.
Police have not ruled out the possibility that the love scam could have also targeted Indonesians, and so are encouraging anyone who believe they may have fallen victim to the group to submit a report to the nearest police station.
The Gambir Police opened an investigation after they noticed certain accounts on dating apps were advertising suspicious investment opportunities. Investigators then tracked the owners of the accounts to an apartment in Tanah Abang where the scammers were operating, Kompas.com reported.