Prabowo recently instructed his staff to take firm action against unlicensed fintech peer-to-peer lenders, saying this was also a direct instruction from President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
"I fully support the police to immediately take firm action against unlicensed fintech peer-to-peer lenders or illegal online lenders who have been very harmful to the community," Mattalitti said in East Java on Wednesday.
There are numerous online loan providers in the country, he said adding, it is estimated that there are hundreds of such unlicensed institutions and they are tirelessly targeting the public either via text messages or phone calls, he noted.
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"There are so many victims of these illegal online loans. Some of them have even experienced violence. Initially, they offer collateral-free easy loans with a short repayment period. After that, they terrorize the customers who are unable to pay or those who are late in paying," he expounded.
The DPD speaker asked all citizens who have fallen victims to such lenders to report them to the authorities. At the same time, he also asked the police to be responsive and to act quickly in processing the reports.
He said that as of October 2021, the National Police has recorded as many as 370 reports related to illegal online loan crimes.
"I observed that the reported cases are just the tip of the iceberg. The actual number of cases is possibly way higher, but people who are victims of illegal online loans choose not to report because they think that even after reporting, there would be no way out of the problems they are experiencing," he added.
Related news: Illegal online lenders function outside financial service system: OJK
Translator: A Malik, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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