Banks in Indonesia instructed to block thousands of gambling-linked accounts

Indonesia’s financial regulator has directed banks to improve their cybercrime detection and fraud monitoring capabilities after receiving data indicating nearly 26,000 accounts are tied to illegal online gambling.

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) issued a directive instructing banks across the country to freeze 25,912 accounts. The directive was based on data provided by the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs, according to Dian Ediana Rae, Chief Executive for Banking Supervision at OJK.

As part of the process, OJK asked financial institutions to verify the identities of the account holders using Indonesia’s national ID number system and to implement enhanced due diligence before permanently closing the accounts.

The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) had previously reported that over 25,000 bank accounts had been flagged for connections to online gambling from 2023 through early July 2025. The total funds across these accounts were estimated at Rp 1 trillion.

The regulator also directed banks to improve systems for detecting cybercrime and identifying potentially fraudulent financial activity, based on data tied to online gambling.

In a related development, Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf said that around 600,000 recipients of government social assistance may be using public aid to engage in online gambling.

“These beneficiaries need to be educated to use the aid for its intended purpose -- not for gambling or other inappropriate uses,” Saifullah said during a visit to Ponorogo, East Java. “More than 600,000 social assistance recipients are suspected of playing online gambling. This is deeply concerning.”

The Social Affairs Ministry has revoked assistance from 230,000 individuals confirmed to have misused the funds and is investigating more than 300,000 additional cases, according to the minister.