Muhammad Nanda Andrianta, Jakarta – The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has recorded a sharp increase in online scam activities ahead of Eid al-Fitr 2026, with 13,130 fraud reports involving 22,593 bank accounts filed since the first week of Ramadan.

As of Feb. 26, 2026, OJK said Rp167 billion ($10 million) in funds had been returned to scam victims. The recovery was facilitated by the Indonesia Anti-Scam Center, according to Friderica Widyasari Dewi, OJK's head of financial services business conduct supervision, consumer education, and protection.

The returned funds belonged to 1,072 victims and had previously been blocked by the anti-scam center from 15 banks used by the perpetrators.

Since its launch on Nov. 22, 2024, the Indonesia Anti-Scam Center has received 477,600 fraud reports from the public as of Feb. 26, 2026, involving 809,355 bank accounts.

Of those reports, 243,323 were submitted through banks or payment service providers, while 234,277 were filed directly by victims through the center's reporting system.

Authorities have also blocked 75,711 phone numbers reported by fraud victims.

"The number of accounts blocked has reached 436,727, with total victim funds frozen amounting to Rp566.1 billion ($33.4 million)," Friderica said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Supangat, a cybersecurity expert from the University of 17 August 1945 Surabaya, urged the public to remain vigilant against digital fraud schemes.

He said scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, often using WhatsApp messages or SMS alerts containing urgent or alarming information to pressure victims into responding quickly.

"Fraudsters often create situations that appear to be emergencies so victims panic and immediately follow their instructions," Supangat said.

He advised the public to verify unknown phone numbers and use caller identification applications such as GetContact or Truecaller to check suspicious contacts.

Supangat also warned against downloading APK files or clicking links sent by unknown contacts, as these could allow scammers to take control of devices or steal personal data.

He stressed that sensitive information such as one-time passwords (OTP), PINs, or account passwords should never be shared with others under any circumstances.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/tech/online-scam-cases-surge-ahead-of-eid-2026-ojk-say