This has become a transnational crime involving directors and fund holders from various countries
Jakarta (ANTARA) - People's Consultative Assembly (MPR RI) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo called for strict action to be taken against fraudulent online loan providers on account of their persistently high prevalence.

According to the Youth Advocate Association’s information, hundreds of reports were received from citizens that fell victim to fraudulent online loan providers, Soesatyo noted in a written statement here on Saturday.

The MPR speaker opined that digital crimes, such as fraudulent online loans, cannot simply be viewed as local crime.

"This has become a transnational crime involving directors and fund holders from various countries. It has also disrupted Indonesia's cybersecurity system as well as violated consumer's protection law and data privacy law," he emphasized.

The modus operandi employed in offering fraudulent online loans is that they involve steep interest rates as well as debt collectors that threaten their victims, and it is not uncommon for them to steal data from their victims’ cell phones, Soesatyo pointed out.

"It should have been easy to trace and to take legal action in such situations. We cannot have the impression that the state, through the authorized ministries or institutions, allows the presence of fraudulent online loan providers," he asserted.

To this end, the police should react quickly to fraudulent online loan cases, he noted.

"The police should be the vanguard that leads the efforts to eradicate fraudulent online loans," he affirmed.

Soesatyo affirmed that if required, the House of Representatives (DPR) can design a new bill that regulates online loan with the government.

"It is not sufficient to handle this at the task force level," Soesatyo remarked while referring to the Investment Alert Task Force.

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics should also urge app store and play store owners to remove fraudulent online loan applications from their stores since citizens consider every online loan services application in such stores as legal, the MPR speaker pointed out.

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Translator: Sigit Pinardi, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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