From Dating to Online Gambling

KOMPAS/TIM LIPSUS

An online game player with online identity El-Che talked about the use of credit in the game, contacted via video phone, Thursday (18/8/2020).

A woman who called herself Lala agreed to have an online date through a video call on the condition that the caller first sent her phone credit worth Rp 150,000 (about US$11).

"I partly exchange the phone credit through online agents," she told Kompas via a video call on Thursday (13/8/2020). For a moment, the video call was stopped, and then the Rp 150,000 phone credit was sent directly to her mobile number. However, after the credit was successfully sent, she could not be reached any more.

Lala never fulfilled her promise. Apparently, the online dating service she offered turned to be fraudulent.

The phone credit exchange business is a lie and illogical.

However, exchanging phone credit into money is not magic at all. It is real. In recent years, the number of phone credit exchange service providers has significantly increased.

It is not difficult to find such businesses. Just type "exchange phone credit into money", and the Google search engine will provide a line of phone credit exchange sites that some people call “phone credit magic”.

Indeed, there are those who use phone credit exchange services as a cover for fraud such as that conducted by Lala. On Facebook, the fraud victims have created a group called Phone Credit Exchange Victims. The members of the group share information about the phone credit exchange sites that deceived them. "The phone credit exchange business is a lie and illogical. So, don\'t ever be tempted by the promise of exchanging phone credit into money,” wrote one community member.

Also read: Beware of Digital Scammers

KOMPAS/WISNU WIDIANTORO

Information about the value of credit conversion on the sukmaconvert.com internet site that serves credit conversion to money, Thursday (3/9/2020).

However, on the other hand, some internet users, especially online game players, have recommended a number of trusted websites that can exchange phone credit into money. According to community information, there are at least five websites that provide such a service , namely Uangkan.com in Lebak (Banten), Sukmaconvert in Cimahi (West Java), Prapulsa in Ciamis (West Java), Convert Pulsa in Baturraden (Banyumas, Central Java), and Medjo Convert Credit in Wonogiri (Central Java). Apart from that, internet users also recommend Via Pulsa in Madiun, East Java, which provides services through applications, which are available on the Play Store.

Phone credit exchange service providers rely on credit transfer features of each mobile phone operator in running their business. A mobile-banking application is also needed to transfer money from the conversion of the credit into the virtual accounts or online wallets of their customers.

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WL, 20, who provides a phone credit exchange service in Baturraden, has been in this business for almost two years. Through WhatsApp, WL asked customers to transfer their phone credit to certain mobile phone numbers and send their bank account numbers for the transfer of the money from the conversion of the phone credit.

In less than 15 minutes, the Rp 100,000 credit was successfully converted and the money from the conversion was transferred to the bank account of the Kompas reporter. "We only provide an online service," said WL.

Legality

The phone credit transfer feature provided by the mobile phone operator is quite flexible. Mobile phone operator XL allows its customers to transfer credit worth up to Rp 2 million at a cost of Rp 5,000, and the transfer of credit lower than that amount is charged at Rp 3,000.

Compared to other operators, the conversion value of XL credit offered by credit exchange service providers is the highest, namely 0.90. This means that with Rp 100,000 credit, a customer can get Rp 90,000. Meanwhile, the conversion value of Telkomsel and Indosat credit is 0.80.

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FRANSISKUS WISNU WARDHANA DHANY UNTUK KOMPAS

Evidence confiscated from the online fraud case buying and selling medical devices with victims of Mexican citizenship was released at the National Police Headquarters Divhumas, Jakarta, Friday (8/3/2019).

Phone credit exchange sites mostly offer the conversion of credit provided by the three operators, rather than those provided by Three and Smartfren. In fact, if the credit transfer is interrupted, says TGH, 22, the phone credit conversion provider in Ciamis, visit the operator\'s outlets to get the transfer.

"If the Telkomsel connection is disrupted, you can go to Grapari [outlet] to ask why the credit cannot be transferred. I was once asked by the operator about my business. I answered buying and selling phone credit. Then the operator explained why there was an interruption in the transfer of the credit.

TGH admitted that he did not know whether the credit conversion business was legal or not. What he knew was that online game players often used credit to buy character items and pay for game jockey services.

We just seized the opportunity.

He also said that online gamblers used phone credit for betting. Likewise, the credit is also used in online prostitution and is also often the target of online fraudsters. Teguh said he did not receive phone credit from such businesses. "I am afraid of receiving credit from gambling or online prostitution businesses. Actually, if I receive the credit from online gambling or prostitution businesses, the profit will be bigger, but I don\'t want to," he said.

By limiting her service only to online game players, TGH can exchange credit worth Rp 5 million for every single cellphone number a month. Then he sold the credit back to the credit kiosk. "The profit is Rp 1 million, not bad for a college student,” he said.

According to the information obtained by Kompas, the trusted providers of phone credit exchange services are mostly located outside Jakarta. However, there was no clear explanation from the service provider regarding this matter. "We just seized the opportunity," said TGH.