[NEWS]Indonesia police arrest 321 foreigners over online gambling

[acroman08]

According to the article, Indonesia arrested 321 foreign nationals who were linked to an international online casino network in Jakarta. The article also mentioned that they identified around 75 domains and websites suspected of facilitating online gambling, and they also said that the platforms used specific characters and labelling strategies to evade being blocked. It is also said that the suspects could face charges under Articles 426 and 607 in conjunction with Articles 20 and 21 of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code, as well as Law No. 1 of 2026 on Criminal Adjustments.". I searched for a bit on what punishment they could face and found out that they could face up to nine years in prison(1).

I am curious, what were the names of the domains they identified?

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia’s police arrested 321 foreign nationals linked to an international online gambling network in Jakarta, following a lengthy investigation into organized, cross-border digital operations, authorities said on Saturday.

Brigadier General Wira Satya Triputra, director of General Crimes at the National Police's Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim), said the arrests followed public tips that led investigators to suspected organized gambling activities involving multiple nationalities.

He said the suspects were detained on Thursday, May 7, and investigations are ongoing.

According to Triputra, the group was caught while operating online gambling platforms.

Those arrested included 57 Chinese, 228 Vietnamese, 11 Laotian, 13 Myanmar nationals, three each from Malaysia and Cambodia, and five Thai nationals.

Triputra said each suspect played a role in the operation, which they used as a source of income.

“This was conducted in a structured manner, using electronic systems and organized cross-border digital operations,” he said.

Police seized evidence including safes, passports, mobile phones, laptops, computers and cash in various foreign currencies.

Investigators also identified around 75 internet domains and websites suspected of facilitating online gambling.

He said the platforms used specific character combinations and labeling strategies to evade blocking.

The suspects could face charges under Articles 426 and 607 in conjunction with Articles 20 and 21 of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code, as well as Law No. 1 of 2026 on Criminal Adjustments.

[yahoo62278]

Probably sites most of us have not heard of or we would have heard something already right? Seems gambling is being accepted most everywhere these days, so why would people use underground gambling sites? Unless gambling is illegal in Indonesia.

[avp2306]

Probably sites most of us have not heard of or we would have heard something already right? Seems gambling is being accepted most everywhere these days, so why would people use underground gambling sites? Unless gambling is illegal in Indonesia.

Yes its illegal at any form base on this.

All forms of gambling, including online and land-based, are illegal and strictly prohibited for both locals and foreigners. Enforcement is active and penalties are severe.

More information towards their gambling laws here https://legalpilot.com/country/indonesia

So with that maybe that is the reason why they choose to use underground gambling, because its strongly prohibited by their government.

[Wiwo]

Probably sites most of us have not heard of or we would have heard something already right? Seems gambling is being accepted most everywhere these days, so why would people use underground gambling sites? Unless gambling is illegal in Indonesia.

Since the ammendments and kick of implementation of the Indonesia criminal code and electronic information transaction law implementation, the country have become strick on gambling site in Indonesia, this new law criminalise all gambling facilitation and seek  up to 9 year imprisoned for defaulters.

This move have pushed Indonesians to seek underground gambling sites, but yeah the law is cracking down on them gradually, further check shown that the ministry of information have blocked all gambling sites access in that region, but I k ow people will use VPNs and other tools to keep gambling online, but illegal according to the law.

[Cryptomultiplier]

Probably sites most of us have not heard of or we would have heard something already right? Seems gambling is being accepted most everywhere these days, so why would people use underground gambling sites? Unless gambling is illegal in Indonesia.

Since the ammendments and kick of implementation of the Indonesia criminal code and electronic information transaction law implementation, the country have become strick on gambling site in Indonesia, this new law criminalise all gambling facilitation and seek  up to 9 year imprisoned for defaulters.

This move have pushed Indonesians to seek underground gambling sites, but yeah the law is cracking down on them gradually, further check shown that the ministry of information have blocked all gambling sites access in that region, but I k ow people will use VPNs and other tools to keep gambling online, but illegal according to the law.

I must say that there's been so much crack down on gamblers mostly those who do it illegally in the southeast Asian continent and that includes Indonesia, Thailand, Phillipines.
Could this be due to high inflation or limited job opportunities that make them see gambling as a way out of poverty and current sitting hardship? I wonder, because there's almost new information every now and then on gambling burst by the law in these regions and now, it's Indonesia.

The lure of a jackpot win certainly draws many in due to massive marketing campaigns and hype ongoing there and the spread of online gambling platforms that make gambling in secret with VPN tools much more regular than before, absolutely contributes to this.

[eaLiTy]

~
I am curious, what were the names of the domains they identified?

According to the report sites like T6.com, WE88 and Play With Confidence (PWC) were among the sites they confiscated.

Source

Looks like a big coordinated investigation and undercover operation which started last year and claims to confiscate $96 million and blocked 231,000 gambling sites and accounts.

~
Could this be due to high inflation or limited job opportunities that make them see gambling as a way out of poverty and current sitting hardship? I wonder, because there's almost new information every now and then on gambling burst by the law in these regions and now, it's Indonesia.

You need money to gamble !!, people are not gambling to escape poverty.

[Jatiluhung]

I must say that there's been so much crack down on gamblers mostly those who do it illegally in the southeast Asian continent and that includes Indonesia, Thailand, Phillipines.
Could this be due to high inflation or limited job opportunities that make them see gambling as a way out of poverty and current sitting hardship? I wonder, because there's almost new information every now and then on gambling burst by the law in these regions and now, it's Indonesia.

The lure of a jackpot win certainly draws many in due to massive marketing campaigns and hype ongoing there and the spread of online gambling platforms that make gambling in secret with VPN tools much more regular than before, absolutely contributes to this.

In Indonesia, the unemployment rate is indeed still quite high according to statistical data. However, in reality, anyone in this country can find a job as long as they are willing to accept a lower salary. Moreover, most people here start their own businesses, which are often not registered with the government. As a result, the unemployment figures appear much higher than they actually are.

But that’s not the real issue. Because, in fact, most of those who gamble are people who are employed and have sufficient income. For those facing financial difficulties, their focus is solely on earning money to cover daily living expenses. And what’s concerning is that most of those addicted now are children who are still too young to access gambling sites. Because there are indeed quite a few illegal sites whose domains change quite frequently. I personally can’t even keep track of their names. 

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

If they were able to catch a high numbers like this at the same time, then I guess that someone sold them out to the government or they belowed it up themselves and were already on the investigation list of the government. They must have broken the law which was never good but I still feel sorry for them that they might serve 9 years in prison.

[Odohu]

Gambling is illegal in Indonesia so took a big risk going there to promote it. This is just like selling illicit drugs in countries where t. Indonesia is a big market for any business because of their large population which may be the reason they took such risk but considering the punishment involved if something go wrong, the risk is not worth it. No matter how strict a government is, people will always find a way to access international platforms so there was no need of those guys going there to promote gambling instead of making do with the number they already have. Irrespective of  how much we love money, going against the law of a people is something we should not derive passion in doing.

[acroman08]

If they were able to catch a high numbers like this at the same time, then I guess that someone sold them out to the government or they belowed it up themselves and were already on the investigation list of the government. They must have broken the law which was never good but I still feel sorry for them that they might serve 9 years in prison.

According to the article, they followed public tips which led them to the suspected organised gambling activities, so yeah, the public sold them out to the government. I guess they never thought that people would tell about them or that they would actually get caught.

[Perfectbaby]

This is terrible to see that such amount of numbers of people involved themselves into cheating on the gambling site, I know that most gambling site are extremely sensitive to detect some of those who are In anyway involved themselves into illegal gambling and when talking about their punishment it's actually herculant spending around 9 years in prisonment .
This is only they could actually eliminate those who are that involving themselves into bad practices while gambling, they deserved such punishment because most people nowadays are just looking for an illegal way to exploit the gambling site.

[robelneo]

This is an organized syndicate for them to operate in a country where online gambling is illegal. This is like a version of POGO operation here in our country.
If they have been operating for months or years before they are caught, there's a possibility that some corrupt officials are protecting them.
They have the nerve to do it in Indonesia, where the laws are strict; they should have operated in Myanmar, a major hub of illegal gambling.

[Wiwo]

I must say that there's been so much crack down on gamblers mostly those who do it illegally in the southeast Asian continent and that includes Indonesia, Thailand, Phillipines.
Could this be due to high inflation or limited job opportunities that make them see gambling as a way out of poverty and current sitting hardship? I wonder, because there's almost new information every now and then on gambling burst by the law in these regions and now, it's Indonesia.

High inflation rate and growing population without Jobs is the reasons many citizens try to look for alternatives to make some extra money which gambling is seen as one means to get that money, when government have a total ban on such activities and the population couple with growing poverty rate, this make citizens to take the risk to engage in what the country have somehow ban just like every other illegal activities we find around our society today.

This is terrible to see that such amount of numbers of people involved themselves into cheating on the gambling site, I know that most gambling site are extremely sensitive to detect some of those who are In anyway involved themselves into illegal gambling and when talking about their punishment it's actually herculant spending around 9 years in prisonment .
This is only they could actually eliminate those who are that involving themselves into bad practices while gambling, they deserved such punishment because most people nowadays are just looking for an illegal way to exploit the gambling site.

You basically did not read the ops or the link provided, you gave an off topic reply, member at your rank should know better that the discussion is about understanding the topic and contributing within the topic.

You just made your comment just to fulfil your post quota, at least put in some effort to read man.

[MArsland]

Probably sites most of us have not heard of or we would have heard something already right? Seems gambling is being accepted most everywhere these days, so why would people use underground gambling sites? Unless gambling is illegal in Indonesia.

In general, gambling in Indonesia is prohibited by state law and religion.

Then about the names of these sites, such as "wongtoto, Gacor777, BosToto, cuan123, mega88, and many other names that do use local languages. Most of these online gambling sites mimic the RTP of legitimate casinos, use third party licenses, and even perform piracy which is basically designed to make the bookmakers statistically superior. There have been many revelations in some local media. I'm from the country, so I'm quite familiar with the cases, especially fraud in online gambling in Indonesia.
 

[YOSHIE]

]Indonesia police arrest 321 foreigners over online gambling.

Maybe I understand that, indeed fake online gambling syndicates in Indonesia are very common, but syndicates need to be understood if they are not helped by local people.

Network (Cambodia, Philippines, Myanmar) Most of the online gambling sites targeting the Indonesian market are managed from abroad, especially from Cambodia (Sihanoukville), the Philippines and Myanmar. The managers are often foreigners who work together with local elements.
[/Kudos to the police.

Kudos to the police.

[Nwada001]

And there could be more to this than the ones that have already been captured, but my question is how can some people be staying in countries where they know they are being tackled for gambling and still operate such a large number of gambling sites without doing it offshore?

I am curious, what were the names of the domains they identified?

According to my search I also found “ 5lot instead of "slot," g4c0r for "gacor" (meaning high win rate), or T0t0 for "Toto". to add to the one which the member above have identified.

[Alonso_]

Gambling is illegal in Indonesia so took a big risk going there to promote it. This is just like selling illicit drugs in countries where t. Indonesia is a big market for any business because of their large population which may be the reason they took such risk but considering the punishment involved if something go wrong, the risk is not worth it. No matter how strict a government is, people will always find a way to access international platforms so there was no need of those guys going there to promote gambling instead of making do with the number they already have. Irrespective of  how much we love money, going against the law of a people is something we should not derive passion in doing.

I didn’t know Gambling is illegal in Indonesia not until I saw this thread and I had to go check out the details of the information myself, that was a risky move taken by them to promote gambling in a country that something is illegal it’s risky considering charges involved if caught, well from my observation, someone that is involved must have sold them out, knowing that he stands a chance of benefiting more from the whistle blowing, I don’t think that it’s possible to totally eradicate gambling from such countries because people would always find a way to do everything possible that makes them happy and satisfied, there are still people who are going to go against the law, I don’t really understand if online Casino is also prohibited 🚫 in Indonesia, I’m quite confused how do they possibly stop internet gambling.

[qwertyup23]

Probably sites most of us have not heard of or we would have heard something already right? Seems gambling is being accepted most everywhere these days, so why would people use underground gambling sites? Unless gambling is illegal in Indonesia.

I agree with you- it baffles me that people are held criminally liable for accessing underground gambling websites given that you can easily register or create an account with existing and established ones in the market currently.

After a quick Google search, it seems like Indonesia prohibits gambling due to its religion mainly comprising of Muslims in that country. If foreigners are criminally liable for accessing these websites, then they will surely be imposed such sentence given that they must respect the laws of the country where they are situated with.

This is an organized syndicate for them to operate in a country where online gambling is illegal. This is like a version of POGO operation here in our country.
If they have been operating for months or years before they are caught, there's a possibility that some corrupt officials are protecting them.
They have the nerve to do it in Indonesia, where the laws are strict; they should have operated in Myanmar, a major hub of illegal gambling.

If that's the case, then they deserve every bit of sentence imposed upon them. They run a syndicate and that affects the country given that it can potentially illegally recruit persons and exercise such illegal activities within their vicinity.