Older expats in Jakarta warned over Singapore forex scam

A new scam is causing concern amongst Jakarta’s expatriate communities.

Whilst this new scam should, in theory, be immediately recognisable for what it is, new arrivals in Indonesia could easily be tempted to make some spare cash on foreign exchange. One elderly female had just left her house when she was approached by a well-dressed man carrying a briefcase who asked her for directions. The pair got chatting, with the man saying he was from Singapore and worked in the oil and gas sector, adding he was in Jakarta on a charity mission. His briefcase, he said, contained Singapore dollars he was intending to exchange for rupiahs in order to donate them to the local manager of several orphanages.

Whilst they were talking, another elderly passer-by joined in the conversation, advising the woman to help the stranger exchange his money. A white car pulled up nearby, with the elderly man introducing the driver as a friend who worked in a nearby bank. The four ended up in the car, discussing the best way to exchange the money. During the conversation, the woman was asked about her family, her personal wealth and whether she lived alone. Soon the conversation turned to urging the woman to exchange her own cash for the Singaporean currency at a very favourable rate. Finally, she agreed, and was driven to a local bank after she’d collected her passport, passbook, ID and PIN number from her house.

At the bank, she withdrew Rp40 million, made the currency exchange in the car and was driven to a nearby roadside, given money for a taxi and left standing there. Once she’d arrived home, she told her son how lucky she’d been, but his suspicions soon revealed the truth – the banknotes were genuine but worthless as the series had been withdrawn and was no longer legal currency. The following day, another older female Jakarta resident was caught by exactly the same scam with an identical result. According to a Jakarta police spokesperson, the crimes are under investigation and appeals to other victims to come forward have been sent out.