Indonesia Bank ‘Backs Law Enforcement’ After Its Accounts Were Used in Crypto Scam

The Bank Central Asia (BCA) has responded to claims that its accounts were exploited as part of a cryptocurrency scam targeting investors.

This particular scam used social media to make contact with potential investors and then used BCA accounts to take payment, according to a report in local media outlet Tempo.co.

One victim, a 63-year-old, said that she invested about $20,000 (Rp330 million) from her and her husband’s retirement savings.

Hera F. Haryn, BCA’s EVP of Corporate Communication & Social Responsibility, at the bank said, told Tempo: “BCA consistently backs law enforcement initiatives and remains open to coordinating with relevant authorities.”

She added: “We encourage customers to remain cautious of various fraudulent tactics and to never disclose their banking information.”

Investigators said the scammers made contact over social media platforms like WhatsApp, offering a cryptocurrency investment group run by “Professor AS.” Investments were made via the JYPRX platform, where account numbers for BCA and BRI banks were given for the transfers.

To gain trust initially, investigators said the scammers provided a bonus in USDT stablecoin and even allowed for small withdrawals. It then froze the accounts, claiming an investigation was underway before coercing the return of the bonus and purchase of a new coin.

Despite complying, in this case, the victim’s bank balance remained inaccessible.

Police expose network

This follows a March 19 announcement from the director of cybercrime in Jakarta warning that an online fraud network masquerading as stock and cryptocurrency investment opportunities had recently been shut down.

It was estimated that approximately 90 victims had suffered a total loss of $90,000 (Rp105 billion).

Earlier that month a further 26 crypto scam sites, tied to $4.6 million in losses, were shut down in California.

This follows the major Bybit theft where over $1.4 billion were taken and are still under investigation.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.