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The Jakarta police have uncovered a center associated with 75 online casino sites.
Indonesia may revise visa-free travel rules for Southeast Asian citizens after a series of major raids against online casinos and fraudulent centers. The immigration service saw in the latest detentions not an ordinary violation of migration rules, but a more serious problem: criminal groups use short tourist trips to quickly import people to work in underground schemes. About plans to check the visa-free regime told The Jakarta Post.
The reason was the operations in Jakarta, Batam and other cities. In a few days, the authorities detained more than 500 foreigners who are suspected of working at illegal online casinos and fraudulent groups. In the capital, the police uncovered a center associated with more than 70 gambling sites. According to the investigation, the sites worked for players outside Indonesia, and employees inside the building were engaged in customer support, telemarketing and financial operations. Details of the raid in Jakarta led the Associated Press.
In Jakarta detained 321 foreigners. Among the defendants in the case were 228 citizens of Vietnam, 57 Chinese citizens, as well as citizens of Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia. Investigators believe that the group managed at least 75 sites for online betting. The police have already identified 275 detainees as suspects, and the rest continue to be checked.
A separate operation took place in Batama, a city near Singapore. Immigration services detained 210 foreigners in the case of fraud with online investments. The inspection showed that 125 detainees were Vietnamese citizens, 84 Chinese citizens, another person turned out to be a citizen of Myanmar. The suspects were found in an apartment in the Lubuk-Budgeh area. The local edition of Okezone said that 57 people entered the program of visa-free visit, 103 received a visa on arrival, 49 used guest visas D12 or B12, another was in the country under limited permission for the investor.
It was the type of entry that became a key argument for the authorities. The suspects used legal channels, but the actual purpose of the trip did not coincide with the tourist or guest status. Director-General of Indonesia’s Immigration Service Gendaras Marantoco said that the participation of foreigners in illegal activities is of serious concern and requires an assessment of the current rules.
In the area of attention were countries whose citizens can stay in Indonesia without a visa for up to 30 days. Among the detainees are citizens of Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos and Myanmar. Chinese citizens also took place in business, but China is not part of the visa-free entry program.
The Indonesian authorities have already stepped up immigration controls. In recent weeks, the immigration service has conducted more than 6700 administrative proceedings, including over 2000 deportations and cancellations of residence permits. Marantoco stressed that Indonesia should not become a safe platform for transnational fraudulent groups.
The problem goes beyond one country. Police and Interpol in Indonesia believe that some of the criminal networks are undergoing operations after pressure from fraudulent centers in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. About the threat of Indonesia turning into a new knot of transnational online scams wrote CNA. According to the publication, the authorities are discussing the creation of a separate working group to combat online betting, investment scams, romantic schemes and other digital crimes.
In recent years, large Internet fraud centers have been found most often in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and the border areas of Thailand. In such complexes, people are often held by force, documents are taken and forced to work in schemes with fake investments, romantic scams, online betting and extortion. About similar “factories of deception” in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar previously wrote SecurityLab.
The pressure on such sites is gradually increasing. Thailand cut off the electricity supply to areas near the border with Myanmar, where fraudulent centers worked, and international operations affected criminal networks associated with Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. In some cases, it was not only about cybercrime, but also about human trafficking, kidnappings and forced labor. SecurityLab told in detail how Thailand tried to deprive scammers of infrastructure, as well as the special services of different countries, united against Asian scam networks.
After the raids and inspections, the organizers of such schemes began to look for new sites. Part of the operations moved to Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and beyond Southeast Asia. Therefore, Indonesian detentions do not look like a separate local history, but as part of a wider migration of criminal networks that are rapidly changing countries, rent offices and using legal visa channels to work illegally.
The money in such schemes is estimated at billions of dollars. In Cambodia, for example, criminal groups built entire complexes under the guise of offices, hotels and casinos, and damage and turnover estimates show a scale comparable to a large branch of the economy. SecurityLab talked about a giant scam center on the border of Thailand and Cambodia, where the fraudulent infrastructure was disguised as a regular office complex.
Indonesia may revise visa-free travel rules for Southeast Asian citizens after a series of major raids against online casinos and fraudulent centers. The immigration service saw in the latest detentions not an ordinary violation of migration rules, but a more serious problem: criminal groups use short tourist trips to quickly import people to work in underground schemes. About plans to check the visa-free regime told The Jakarta Post.
The reason was the operations in Jakarta, Batam and other cities. In a few days, the authorities detained more than 500 foreigners who are suspected of working at illegal online casinos and fraudulent groups. In the capital, the police uncovered a center associated with more than 70 gambling sites. According to the investigation, the sites worked for players outside Indonesia, and employees inside the building were engaged in customer support, telemarketing and financial operations. Details of the raid in Jakarta led the Associated Press.
In Jakarta detained 321 foreigners. Among the defendants in the case were 228 citizens of Vietnam, 57 Chinese citizens, as well as citizens of Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia. Investigators believe that the group managed at least 75 sites for online betting. The police have already identified 275 detainees as suspects, and the rest continue to be checked.
A separate operation took place in Batama, a city near Singapore. Immigration services detained 210 foreigners in the case of fraud with online investments. The inspection showed that 125 detainees were Vietnamese citizens, 84 Chinese citizens, another person turned out to be a citizen of Myanmar. The suspects were found in an apartment in the Lubuk-Budgeh area. The local edition of Okezone said that 57 people entered the program of visa-free visit, 103 received a visa on arrival, 49 used guest visas D12 or B12, another was in the country under limited permission for the investor.
It was the type of entry that became a key argument for the authorities. The suspects used legal channels, but the actual purpose of the trip did not coincide with the tourist or guest status. Director-General of Indonesia’s Immigration Service Gendaras Marantoco said that the participation of foreigners in illegal activities is of serious concern and requires an assessment of the current rules.
In the area of attention were countries whose citizens can stay in Indonesia without a visa for up to 30 days. Among the detainees are citizens of Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos and Myanmar. Chinese citizens also took place in business, but China is not part of the visa-free entry program.
The Indonesian authorities have already stepped up immigration controls. In recent weeks, the immigration service has conducted more than 6700 administrative proceedings, including over 2000 deportations and cancellations of residence permits. Marantoco stressed that Indonesia should not become a safe platform for transnational fraudulent groups.
The problem goes beyond one country. Police and Interpol in Indonesia believe that some of the criminal networks are undergoing operations after pressure from fraudulent centers in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. About the threat of Indonesia turning into a new knot of transnational online scams wrote CNA. According to the publication, the authorities are discussing the creation of a separate working group to combat online betting, investment scams, romantic schemes and other digital crimes.
In recent years, large Internet fraud centers have been found most often in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and the border areas of Thailand. In such complexes, people are often held by force, documents are taken and forced to work in schemes with fake investments, romantic scams, online betting and extortion. About similar “factories of deception” in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar previously wrote SecurityLab.
The pressure on such sites is gradually increasing. Thailand cut off the electricity supply to areas near the border with Myanmar, where fraudulent centers worked, and international operations affected criminal networks associated with Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. In some cases, it was not only about cybercrime, but also about human trafficking, kidnappings and forced labor. SecurityLab told in detail how Thailand tried to deprive scammers of infrastructure, as well as the special services of different countries, united against Asian scam networks.
After the raids and inspections, the organizers of such schemes began to look for new sites. Part of the operations moved to Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and beyond Southeast Asia. Therefore, Indonesian detentions do not look like a separate local history, but as part of a wider migration of criminal networks that are rapidly changing countries, rent offices and using legal visa channels to work illegally.
The money in such schemes is estimated at billions of dollars. In Cambodia, for example, criminal groups built entire complexes under the guise of offices, hotels and casinos, and damage and turnover estimates show a scale comparable to a large branch of the economy. SecurityLab talked about a giant scam center on the border of Thailand and Cambodia, where the fraudulent infrastructure was disguised as a regular office complex.
