E-commerce fraud in Indonesia recently claimed a high profile victim: youth and sports Affairs Minister Roy Suryo. Police arrested the alleged scammer quickly :. A boy of 16, who could face up to six years in prison
Ironically, Kanjeng Raden Mas Tumenggung (KRMT) Roy Suryo Notodipro - give the minister his full name - is primarily self-proclaimed expert in the country on cybercrime. The KRMT bit of its name is a title of nobility for a noble Javanese regent lord.
Online shoppers have long been warned that if a price seems too good to be true, then it is a scam. Many victims of these scams are complaining that the police are reluctant to help them get their money.
Not so for Roy. On August 20, he saw a fixed gear bike brand Tera Blue 'of fixie', announced on the largest website for classified ads Indonesia, OLX.co.id, previously called tokobagus.com. The black fixie, orange and pink, made in Malaysia, usually sells for around RM990 ($ 300), but on OLX it was offered by a "seller" in the city of West Java Subang to Rp.890,000 ($ 73 ).
Roy contacted the seller and agreed a price rp.1 million, including delivery to his house in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. The Minister immediately transferred the money through mobile banking of Bank Central Asia and sent a screenshot of the transaction.
Suddenly the seller claimed the bike was bought by another customer, but the new stock would arrive within two days. After two days, Roy has agreed to buy a bike with different colors, but the continuous drop crook.
repeatedly Roy politely asked for a refund. The scammer claimed the money could be reimbursed by an employer. Finally, the minister charged with fraud and gave him one last chance to make the repayment. The scammer responded by clearing the Roy number of its BlackBerry smartphone.
After that, Roy contacted the police, who used mobile location technology to locate the scammer. On September 2, police arrested the author youth Gemblo, at his parents' house in Indramayu, West Java.
Roy said the swindler had many victims. Members of the GEMBLO family claimed that the boy does not understand the Internet and was sacrificed to protect his friends.
When the story broke, the discussion forums are not favorable to the minister. Customers have complained that the police rarely deals with cases of fraud e-commerce involving only a few million rupees.
supposedly Roy expertise in technological crimes has not won him many fans in cyberspace. He testified for the prosecution in the 2009 trial against the defamation of Prita Mulyasari, a housewife who was imprisoned for complaining about mistreatment she received at a hospital in the province of Banten.
When a photo topless presumed to be Miss Indonesia Artika Sari Devi was released in 2005, Roy said he was authentic. He changed his tune after the photo was found to be that of a Thai transvestite.
Roy was also criticized for issues not related to cyber fraud, as in March 2011, when he and his wife were ejected from a Lion Air flight after trying to take the seat holders actual tickets.
Currently, Roy is under fire from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) on his official trip with his wife to Europe to promote the Indonesian martial art of Pencak Silat - that its mandate as Minister nears its end. Previously a member of the Democratic Party, Roy became sports minister in January 2013 to replace Andi Mallarangeng, who resigned after being declared a suspect of corruption.
ICW said the trip is a loss and asked why Roy of women needed to be among the 10 strong entourage of the Minister visiting the Czech Republic, Spain and Bulgaria.
Often the target of critical comments online and cruelly manipulated images, Roy last month proposed a label internet law and criminal law information technology to punish those who spread abuse or false information online.
Indonesia already has a law to protect citizens against online scammers. The problem is that it is not always applied. Take the case of Ilyas of the Riau province. He transferred Rp.4 million for a new phone Sony Xperia Z2, which sells for Rp.7.3 million. He received nothing and reported the case to the police, only to be told they could not follow the scammer.
Erwan Saputra, the founder of an online verification site called polisionline.com, said such scamming is increasing and includes luxury cars offered at ridiculously low prices. Yet the biggest scam perpetrated in Indonesia may be the sequence of hard-won democratic reforms.