Bali

2024: How Bali became a hub of international cyberafires

At the end of June 2024, immigration officials Indonesia raided one of the villas on the resort island of Bali, where more than a hundred foreign citizens were detained. They are suspected of committing cybercrimes. This is the next detention confirms. that Bali is becoming a hub of international cyberafires.

During the operation, law enforcement agencies seized computer equipment, including laptops and routers, and smartphones, which were used in organizing fraudulent schemes. According to Indonesian immigration officials, 14 of the 103 arrested are Taiwanese citizens, while the identities of the others are being established. Among the detainees - 12 women and 91 men.

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They are suspected of cybercrime-related activities and misuse of their visas and will be deported, "said Saffar Muhammad Godam, director of the Bali immigration service.

Police are investigating whether those arrested may have links to international syndicates. Nor is it clear whether the suspects committed cybercrimes against their will. So-called cyber slavery has become a common problem in Southeast Asia: young people who own a computer, applying for a high-paying job, often find themselves in captivity and are forced to engage in fraud on the Internet.

Indonesian authorities emphasize that it will be difficult for those arrested to face cybercrime charges if their victims were in other countries. The raid was organized after the law enforcement agencies received information about the suspicious activity of foreigners in the villa. This operation was the largest detention of cyber fraudsters in Indonesia in 2024. Similar raids have previously been carried out in Bali and in the country as a whole. So, in 2023, Indonesia deported 153 Chinese citizens who earned $1.3 million from love scams.^[1]

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