Garut, 24 November 2023. Garut Resort Police (Polres) managed to arrest a group of fraudsters who pretended to be XL Home service officers in Karangpawitan District, Garut Regency, on Monday afternoon (November 21). In the arrest operation, the police managed to secure two suspected perpetrators who posed as XL Home officers, namely DR (29 years old), a resident of Cikole Sukabumi, and GO (28 years old), a resident of Baros Sukabumi. From the two of them, several pieces of evidence were also secured in the form of cash amounting to Rp 306,500, a 1-unit gold Yamaha NMAX motorcycle, five STB chargers, three XL Home brand STBs, and six iForte routers.
After arresting the two perpetrators in Garut, the Garut Police Criminal Investigation Unit moved quickly to pursue and arrest other suspects. In the evening, two more perpetrators were arrested in Cimahi city, namely FP (28 years old), a resident of Jatiwaras; AS (23 years old), a resident of Karang Tengah; and DC (22 years old), the collector of stolen goods residing in Bojongloa Kidul in Bandung. Thus, the total number of suspects successfully arrested is five.
Garut Police Chief, AKBP Rohman Yongky Dilatha, said that the arrest made by his members was successfully carried out in less than 24 hours after reports were received from XL Axiata partner employees about fraud attempts against customers and illegal retrieval of XL Home service devices. AKBP Rohman Yongky Dilatha also appreciated the team from XL Axiata, who coordinated with the local police upon learning of the fraud.
"My members immediately moved to the ground after reports came in from XL Axiata partner employees who informed that there had been fraudulent actions against several XL Home service customers accompanied by illegal retrieval of devices in the Garut Regency area. What we are doing is certainly a form of our service to the community and business actors throughout the Garut Regency area, as well as emphasizing that there is no room for criminals to carry out their actions in this region," said AKBP Rohman Yongky Dilatha.
AKBP Rohman Yongky Dilatha added that, from the initial investigation conducted by his members, the modus operandi of fraud committed by the two suspects was to pretend to be XL Home officers who visited the houses of XL Home customers. By showing a fake XL Home identification card, the perpetrators then asked about internet service renewal payments. If payment had not been made, the two perpetrators would retreive the XL Home device and terminate the subscription status.
The criminal act, which targeted six homes of XL Home customers, has cost XL Axiata, together with PT Iforte Solusi Infotek and PT Quantum Nusatama as XL Home service providers, around IDR 14 million. Meanwhile, there were no material losses to customers.
According to the Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of Garut Police, AKP Ari Rinaldo, S.H., MM, the police are still investigating this case to obtain more complete information, including whether the perpetrators are syndicates and whether it also occurs in other areas.
Meanwhile, the Head of Crime and Violence Unit of Garut Police, Ipda Andryan Yoga Pratama, appealed to people who know or suspect similar fraud actions to report them to the nearest Sector Police immediately.
Group Head of Corporate Communications of XL Axiata, Reza Mirza, said, "On behalf of the management of PT XL Axiata Tbk, we would like to express our utmost appreciation to our colleagues from Garut Police for their swiftness in following up reports of alleged fraud and illegal retrieval of devices belonging to XL Home and partners in the Garut area. We also hope this arrest can thoroughly reveal the criminal operations carried out by the perpetrators who have disrupted XL Home services in Garut."
Reza emphasized that although customers were not materially harmed in this case, the perpetrators had tricked customers. XL Axiata remains strongly committed to protecting customers from crimes related to telecommunications and data services. For this reason, XL Axiata also urges customers not to hesitate to report to the police or the customer complaint number 820 (XL only) and 08170123442 (non XL) if they suspect a crime, such as fraud. Customer reports will be followed up immediately, including by escalating them to the police.
Appeal to Avoid Fraud
To avoid similar crimes in the future, XL Axiata urges and invites XL Home or XL SATU Fiber customers to: