Online gambling is illegal in Indonesia. However, its popularity has surged in recent years.
This is evident from the annual reports of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK).
According to PPATK findings, in 2017 there were only around 250,000 transactions related to online gambling in Indonesia, with a total transaction value of Rp2 trillion.
In subsequent years, similar transactions continued to increase until their value reached hundreds of trillions of Rupiah.
Throughout 2023, PPATK found approximately 168 million transactions related to online gambling, with a total transaction value of Rp327 trillion.
PPATK also stated that in 2023, around 3.29 million people in Indonesia played online gambling, and some of them misused accounts.
"The modus operandi of using other people's accounts obtained from the practice of lending and selling accounts by the public to online gambling perpetrators, to be used as online gambling funds deposit accounts, is still found," said PPATK in its 2023 Annual Report.
"Some of the funds from online gambling are transferred abroad by perpetrators using shell companies," it continued.
In 2023, PPATK froze approximately 3,900 accounts related to online gambling, with a total balance of Rp167.7 trillion.