Recognize the Fraud Mode in the Name of the Bank

Two basic aspects need to be considered before deciding to invest, namely legal and logical.

KOMPAS/AGUSTINUS YOGA PRIMANTORO

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Recently, the world of news has been colored by cases of fraud under the guise of banking service products, such as deposits and other investment products. This case also involved the names of two banks under the auspices of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), namely PT Bank Tabungan Negara (Persero) Tbk or BTN and PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk or BRI.

As is known, a group of protesters demonstrated demanding the return of customer funds that were allegedly lost after investing in front of the BTN headquarters in Jakarta on Tuesday (30/4/2024). They are believed to be victims of former BTN employees' investment schemes, namely ASW and SCP, who were dismissed dishonorably and convicted by the court.

Regarding this matter, BTN has reported both individuals to the Jakarta Metropolitan Regional Police on February 6, 2023, for crimes of fraud, embezzlement, and forgery. Currently, ASW and SCP have been sentenced by the court to 6 years and 3 years in prison, respectively.

The Operational and Customer Director of BTN, Hakim Putratama, stated on Wednesday (8/5/2024) that they have never offered investment products (deposits) with a return of 10 percent per month or 120 percent per year.

As a follow-up effort, BTN opens up space for customers to together take legal measures and respect the established legal decisions.

"We will respect the ongoing legal process. We will fulfill the rights and obligations of those who claim to be customers and of BTN in accordance with legal provisions," he said during a press conference at the BTN headquarters in Jakarta.

KOMPAS/AGUSTINUS YOGA PRIMANTORO

Ombudsman of Indonesia member Yeka Hendra Fatika (left), BTN Operational Director and Customer Hakim Putratama (center), and BTN's Legal Representative Roni Hutajulu (right) provided statements regarding a alleged embezzlement case of BTN's customer funds at the BTN Headquarters in Jakarta, Wednesday (8/5/2024).

On the other hand, there is also information circulating on social media regarding the disappearance of BRI customers' funds. BRI Corporate Secretary Agustya Hendy Bernadi stated in an official statement on Tuesday (7/5/2024) that the information cannot be held accountable for its accuracy.

"BRI also took firm action and legal measures against parties involved due to content containing misleading information, damaging BRI's image, and potentially causing unrest in society," said Hendy.

In the social media platform Tiktok, for example, the account @rakyatdotnews uploaded a video regarding the case of missing funds from a customer in Makassar, South Sulawesi, amounting to Rp 400 million. In addition, there is also a post from the account owner @ramanews on April 23, 2024, which is also related to missing funds from BRI customers.

The methods used include offering part-time work with an unlicensed deposit and investment system.

Agustya said that the information about missing customer funds that went viral on social media were old incidents in 2018 and 2023 with incomplete information. These cases each constitute a bogus investment involving a former BRI employee and a crime of online fraud (social engineering).

Also read: Fraud Modes That Continue to Develop

Tempting offer

The case involving two banking institutions seems to show that unofficial investment offers or fraudulent investments are still widespread. From 2017 to March 31 2024, the Task Force for Eradicating Illegal Financial Activities (PASTI Task Force) has stopped 9,062 illegal financial entities, consisting of 1,235 illegal investment entities and 251 illegal pawn entities.

Meanwhile, during February-March 2024, Satgas PASTI found 17 entities offering illegal investments or financial activities. Such activities have the potential to harm society and violate provisions on the dissemination of personal data.

The methods used include offering part-time work with an unlicensed deposit and investment system. Apart from that, there are also modes in the form of offering crypto asset trading and trading with an unlicensed multi-level marketing (MLM) system.

Despite various methods, perpetrators have the same tendency of offering returns that are too good to be true. For example, banking investment products such as deposits usually have a return of up to 10 percent per year. However, the investment being offered is unreasonable, such as 10 percent per month or 120 percent per year.

Also read: Dozens of Retired Teachers Tricked by Bogus Investments

In fact, it is not uncommon for perpetrators to duplicate the names of sites or social media belonging to official accounts in order to manipulate the public (impersonate). If you are not careful, people will easily believe you and end up falling into the abyss of fraud.

”Soceng”

Manipulation by the perpetrators is also known as social engineering (soceng). This fraud mode is carried out by psychologically engineering the victims to comply with the perpetrator's wishes. Usually, the perpetrators offer lures that touch the victim's emotions, such as curiosity, happiness, or fear, thereby causing the victim to fall into a trap.

BENEDIKTUS KRISNA YOGATAMA

Four modes of fraud social engineering financial services cybercrime. Source: Financial Services Authority

Oxford University data shows that 88 percent of banking cases in the digital era originate from the soceng mode. In Indonesia, the percentage of cases is much greater, reaching 99 percent.

One example of the socengfraud mode is information in the name of BRI regarding changes to the interbank transfer rate to IDR 150,000 per month. Via WhatsApp, the perpetrator sent a message containing a link referring to a certain page to ask for various customer personal information.

In addition, the mode of operation of the perpetrators is usually by offering service products, priority membership offers, as well as the lure of winning prizes. All of these modes result in acquiring personal information data.

The modus operandi of the perpetrators is to trick the victim by using a fake e-mail, namely changing the position of the alphabet or adding one or more alphabets to the e-mail address so that it resembles the original.

Another example is the manipulation of data via business electronic mail which resulted in a Singaporean company experiencing losses of up to IDR 32 billion. The company did not realize that the electronic mail address (e-mail) of the partner requesting the transfer was a fake email.

According to information from the Indonesian National Police, this case started with the actions of several people who manipulated data or business emails of PT Huttons Asia which has business relations with Kingsford Huray Development Ltd. The perpetrators used e-mail using the name PT Huttons Asia, namely PT Hutton Asia International.

"The modus operandi of the perpetrators is to trick the victim by using a fake e-mail address, namely changing the position of the alphabet or adding one or more alphabets to the e-mail address so that it resembles the original," said the Director of Cyber ​​Crime, Bareskrim Polri, Brigadier General (Pol) Himawan Bayu Aji (Kompas.id, 7/5/2024).

KOMPAS/REGINA RUKMORINI

Release of case of fraud in MSME loan funds from BRI at Yogyakarta Police Headquarters, Monday (8/4/2024).

Therefore, the community should be more careful and cautious when receiving unusual messages. It is better to ignore messages that do not originate from official numbers or accounts. Moreover, opening and filling out forms from unclear origin links should be avoided.

As a precaution, it is better for people to immediately block contact numbers that are indicated to be fraudulent. Apart from that, regularly manage banking account passwords (mobile banking) and report to banking and related authorities if you find messages that are not from official accounts.

Similar to soceng, other digital platform-based fraud modes are phishing and malware. The perpetrators usually impersonate official authorized institutions and even their closest colleagues to lure their victims into providing personal information voluntarily without them realizing it.

In contrast to soceng, phishing methods often involve e-mails that appear legitimate, but contain malicious links (malware ) or requests for personal data. Meanwhile, soceng can involve more subtle manipulation, such as impersonating a colleague or trusted party to obtain confidential information.

The link containing malware is dangerous because it can infiltrate the device and absorb various personal data information. Usually, the link is an application file, such as a wedding invitation or a website link prepared by the perpetrator.

Amidst the development of various fraud schemes, the community is still faced with financial literacy. Based on the results of the 2022 National Survey of Financial Literacy and Inclusion, the financial literacy index of the Indonesian people is 49.68 percent, while the financial inclusion index this year reached 85.10 percent.

Meaning, there is a 35.42 percent gap between the literacy rate and the inclusion rate. This indicates that the community has not been fully educated regarding access to various financial services, including how to mitigate various modes of fraud.

Also read: Be careful, financial fraud is rampant during Ramadan

In principle, two fundamental aspects need to be considered, namely legal and logical. Legal means that the products or services offered have obtained a business permit from the authorities/supervisory agencies, while logical means considering the results or profits offered in accordance with the provisions.

Apart from that, financial services players should not only update their security systems, but also ensure that all service procedures comply with operational standards in order to minimize fraud. Not to forget, the security of people's personal data must be a main priority as an effort to protect consumers.