Here’s How to Report Illegal Fintech – In difficult economic conditions, especially due to the current epidemic, residents are vulnerable to becoming victims of fraud along with the increase in fraudulent practices that cause the most losses. One of them that often happens is admitting as a marketing fintech lending company by offering a specific amount of money owed.
Recently, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) has advised residents to always take advantage of legal lending and borrowing technology services or legal fintech lending if they need funds.
Chairman of the Indonesian Joint Funding Fintech Association (AFPI) Adrian Gunadi explained, currently many fraud perpetrators are competing to take advantage of difficult economic conditions. This situation makes it easy for residents to be tempted to take offers that are actually engineered intentionally/in such a way that they turn into attractive products or services.
“I ask residents to be vigilant in accepting offers from fintech lending companies because many of us are victims of fraud on behalf of fintech lending.
Along with the increasing number of fintech lending routines that are not registered or licensed at the OJK, citizens must increase their preparedness so as not to get entangled and have problems with illegal fintech lending debt services. Residents can first check the legality through the legal page www.ojk.go.id or https://afpi.or.id/pengaduan.
But if you are already in trouble or entangled with illegal fintech lending offers or services, it is really recommended to immediately submit it to the OJK and the authorities by following these steps.
First, gather evidence of intimidation, terror, bullying, harassment, or other objections.
Report the evidence by going to the nearest police station to make a report.
Or you can also send the complaint to the official OJK website at https://konsumen.ojk.go.id/formpengaduan or contact customer service Contact OJK 157. Customer service Contact OJK 157 can also be used for residents who want to identify Fintech Registered or Not, the Financial Services Authority and its details. Or submit a report to the AFPI legitimate site at https://afpi.or.id/pengaduan.
In order to stay alert and not get entangled, here are some characteristics of illegal fintech lending that the general public and business people need to avoid, namely:
- The company does not have a permit from the OJK.
- The company is not registered as a member of the Indonesian Joint Funding Fintech Association (AFPI) as the legal association that oversees this industry.
- Fintech companies impose very large and non-transparent fees and penalties.
- Fintech companies are not subject to OJK Regulations (POJK) and potentially not subject to other applicable laws and regulations.
- Fintech companies do not have experience in conducting fintech operations.
- Fintech companies do not follow ethical billing procedures and the same conditions. Billing often takes place in a number of abusive, threatening, inhuman, and against the law ways.
The points above are just a few of the 14 characteristics detected by the OJK. Complete information can be accessed on the official OJK page www.ojk.go.id.
Meanwhile, in preventing the risk of fraud, Adrian informed several modes of fraud on behalf of fintech that often take place, one of which is:
- SMS blast: offers fast, easy, and collateral-free loans via SMS blast from a regular cellphone number.
- The contents of the SMS are usually straightforward saying ‘Need Fast Funds Without Guarantees and Low Interest, Fast Process, and Easy XXX Contact’. If you receive an SMS like this, it is really advisable to ignore it and if it bothers you, residents can submit a report to the OJK FCC service at 1-500-655 or the authorities or the Police.
- Low interest: Offering really low interest is a scammer’s mode of enticing potential victims and following the scammer’s offer. It should be noted that the determination of the interest on the debt must always comply with the provisions and obtain an agreement from the OJK.
Currently, the market interest rate for debt from fintech is between 16% to 30% per annum for productive debt and an optimal 0.8% daily for short-term debt (payday loans).
Rewards: if there are actors who offer debt products and one of the conditions is that they have to pay a specific amount to process the debt application, this is suspect. In fact, it can almost be stated that it is a fraud because employees of financial institutions are not allowed to receive any compensation from customers and it is a serious violation to do so.
“The three modes are the ones that are often used by fraudsters and unfortunately there are many people who have suffered big losses because of that. If residents want to apply for good debt for business capital or individual needs, they are really recommended to borrow through legal fintech lending that has obtained permission from the OJK and is a member of the AFPI,” he explained.
“We emphasize that fintech lending companies registered as AFPI members must comply with the Code of Ethics which controls several operational factors such as interest limits, billing steps, and others. If they violate, they will be subject to severe threats, “concluded Adrian.
Source: merdeka.com
