Bali police arrest two suspects in alleged fake overseas-job and visa schemes
Bali police arrested two suspects accused of taking Rp313 million through alleged promises to change a South Korea work visa and arrange an Australia job, officials said.
Editor: Mursyid Sonsang
· 2 min read
Denpasar — Bali police arrested two suspects on Oct. 21, 2026, in two alleged online-fraud cases involving promises of visa services, job transfers and overseas employment. Police identified the suspects as IKS and IGRY.
The cases targeted Indonesian migrant workers and people seeking better-paid jobs abroad, according to Bali Police’s cybercrime director, Aszhari Kurniawan, who spoke at a police headquarters news conference in Denpasar.
Police said IKS allegedly contacted a worker in South Korea through social media and offered to change an E-9 work visa to an F-2 long-term residence visa. The suspect also allegedly promised to move the worker from fishing-related work to jobs including factory, laundry, restaurant and public-cleaning positions.
The victim and a sibling made 56 transfers between July 2025 and June 2026, police said. The reported loss was Rp295,149,684, after the promised visa processing and job transfer failed to materialise.
In the second case, police said IGRY offered a man a chance to work in Australia by replacing someone who had cancelled plans to work as a tattoo artist. The victim paid Rp18 million in stages for registration and departure administration, but the promised departure did not take place.
Police arrested the two suspects in separate operations. Bali Post reported that IGRY was arrested on Oct. 5 on the Denpasar-Gilimanuk road in Jembrana, while both suspects were later detained at Bali Police headquarters.
The suspects face charges under Article 28(1) in conjunction with Article 45A(1) of Indonesia’s electronic information law and Article 492 of the Criminal Code. The electronic-information charges carry a maximum six-year prison sentence and a fine of up to Rp1 billion, while the fraud provision carries a maximum four-year sentence and a fine of up to Rp500 million, Bali Post reported.
Bali Police said only two victims had been identified in the cases and urged anyone who may have suffered losses through the same alleged scheme to report to the cybercrime directorate.
Sources
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