ROTTEN! VCS SCAM RUN FROM INSIDE KOTABUMI PRISON: 2,186 VICTIMS, RP1.4 BILLION GONE, PRISON OFFICERS ALLEGEDLY INVOLVED

LAMPUNG Indonesia May 11, 2026,NETTInpo.com

Prison is no longer a place for rehabilitation. Class IIB Kotabumi Detention Center, North Lampung, has been turned into a scam headquarters. Lampung Police uncovered an alleged fraud and scamming operation disguised as video call sex, controlled from behind bars.

A total of 145 inmates have been questioned. The result is sickening: 137 are suspected of being involved in the organized network. Total victims: 2,186 people across Java and Lampung. Losses reached Rp1.4 billion.

Vile Modus: Impersonate Police-TNI, Record VCS, Extort Victims 

Lampung Police Chief, Inspector General Helfi Assegaf, explained the investigation began with a report received by Subdirectorate V Cyber of the Special Criminal Investigation Directorate on May 1, 2026.

From the investigation, the syndicate had been active from January to April 2026. The perpetrators had clear roles: create fake accounts posing as police and TNI officers, hunt female victims on social media, lure them into VCS, secretly record it, then extort them.

Of the 2,186 victims, more than 600 were trapped in explicit video calls. A total of 246 victims were blackmailed using the recordings. They were threatened with having their videos sent to family and workplaces if they didn’t transfer money.

Prison Officers Allegedly Facilitated Phones Inside

Most shocking: the practice allegedly involved rogue prison officers. They facilitated cellphone use inside the detention center. Without phones, how could inmates run VCS and operate social media?

Minister of Immigration and Corrections, Agus Andrianto, admitted there were allegations of prison staff involvement. “This case investigation began with a public report through the official complaint channel. A team was immediately formed and coordinated with Lampung Police,” Agus said. The officers are now under investigation.

Broken Oversight, Structured Neglect 

This case is a harsh slap. A detention center that should be sterile from phones instead became a scam “call center.” This isn’t negligence. This is structured, well-organized permissiveness.

How could 137 inmates freely hold phones, create fake accounts, run VCS, and extort victims for 4 months? Who supplied them? Who turned a blind eye? The public deserves to know.

Rp1.4 billion of victims’ money flowed. Meanwhile, insiders allegedly took a cut. Kotabumi Detention Center isn’t the first case. This is an alarm for all prisons and detention centers in Indonesia.

Heavy Punishment for Rogue Officers, Not Just Inmates 

Police must dismantle this to the root. Not only the 137 inmates should be prosecuted. The prison officers who facilitated it must be charged under multiple articles. The phone suppliers, the payoff guards, the supervisors who looked away, all must face trial.

If prison becomes a scam den, where else can the public trust the legal system? Hayam Wuruk Jakarta with 321 foreigners, Batam with 275 suspects, Bali’s hell hotel, now Kotabumi Detention Center. Indonesia is in an emergency over online gambling and scams. And worse: officials are allegedly playing along.

Stop fast deportations for foreigners. Stop permissiveness in prisons. Prosecute first, jail them, seize assets. Be transparent to the media. Nothing should be covered up.

TPF WartaGlobal 

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