Akmalal Hamdhi, Jakarta – Financial Service Authority (OJK) said West Java residents were the most affected by digital fraud nationwide, based on complaints recorded by the national anti-scam task force.

OJK revealed that data from the Indonesia Anti Scam Center (IASC) showed 88,943 reports originating from West Java between Nov. 22, 2024 and Jan. 14, 2026, the highest tally among all provinces.

Fraud complaints were heavily concentrated on Java Island. Jakarta ranked second with 66,408 reports, followed by East Java (60,533), Central Java (48,231), and Banten (30,539). In total, IASC received 432,637 complaints, involving 721,101 bank accounts linked to suspected scam activity, of which 397,028 accounts have been successfully blocked.

OJK's Executive Head of Financial Services Business Conduct Supervision, Education, and Consumer Protection, Friderica Widyasari Dewi, said that from January 2025 to January 2026, the anti-illegal finance task force Satgas PASTI also handled 27,861 specific complaints, comprising 22,632 cases of illegal online lending and 5,229 cases of illegal investment schemes.

"The distribution of complaints shows that Java Island continues to dominate, with West Java, Jakarta, East Java, Central Java, and Banten recording the highest figures," Friderica told a working meeting with Commission XI of the House of Representatives on Thursday.

She warned that digital fraud has evolved into a systematic threat that undermines public trust in the financial services sector. According to her, such crimes are no longer incidental but highly adaptive to technological developments. "The impact is not only significant material losses, but also deep social and psychological scars for victims and their families," she said.

Reported scam methods range from fake online shopping transactions and spoofed phone calls to bogus investments, fake job offers, and prize scams. In many cases, victims unknowingly hand over sensitive data such as passwords, one-time passwords (OTP), and PINs. "As a result, victims' funds can be transferred very quickly, sometimes in less than 1 hour, making recovery extremely difficult if reports are filed late," Friderica added.

In response, OJK and Satgas PASTI established the IASC as a coordination hub to accelerate account blocking, trace fund flows, and strengthen cooperation with law enforcement agencies and the financial services industry. The authority expects the center to help break increasingly sophisticated digital financial crime networks and reduce public losses going forward.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/west-java-tops-indonesias-digital-scam-complaints-ojk-say