TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Financial Services Authority or OJK has stopped 2,500 activities of illegal online lending companies from January to October 28, 2024. The OJK has also requested the blocking of 995 contact numbers of debt collectors.

OJK official Friderica Widyasari Dewi said the move was made by the Task Force for Illegal Financial Activities Eradication (Satgas Pasti). "We have blocked almost 1,000 bank accounts, and telephone and WhatsApp contacts," she said at the press conference of the Monthly Commissioner Board Meeting on Friday, November 1, 2024.

According to her, the task force found the contact numbers of debt collectors involved in illegal online lending who had reportedly made threats, intimidation, or other illegal acts. The blocking of the contact numbers has been submitted to the Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs (Komdigi).

Since the beginning of the year, OJK has received 13,860 reports regarding illegal entities. Of the number, 13,020 reports were related to illegal online lending, and 840 reports were related to illegal investments. The authority also blocked 242 illegal investment offers on several websites and applications that could potentially harm the public.

Meanwhile, 228 bank accounts or virtual accounts have been reported to be involved in illegal financial activities. The OJK has already notified the banks to proceed with the freezing.

To combat these illegal activities, the OJK will soon launch the Anti-Scam Center (ASC) as a centralized platform to handle fraud cases. However, the exact date of its launch has not been announced yet. "The Pasti Task Force is intensively preparing the systems and infrastructure to be used for the ASC," she added.

The launch of the ASC will take place soon in order to accelerate the blocking of fraudsters' accounts and to identify perpetrators more quickly. It is hoped that legal action will be taken and the remaining funds returned to victims, provided that victims report promptly through the platform.

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