TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head of Trust and Safety Bukalapak Ghifari Daulagiri said that Bukalapak had raised their suspicion on possible misappropriation of the e-commerce platform's promotion starting from March until May 2018.

"We notice transaction irregularities occurring from March to May 2018. The Trust and Safety team immediately conducted an investigation on the irregularities," Ghifari stated on Friday, December 21, 2018.

In the investigation, the team discovered three user accounts registered in Kediri, East Java, and later filed a report to the Cyber Crime Directorate of the National Police Crime Investigation Unit on June 4, 2018.

The Crime Investigation Unit arrested three perpetrators on different locations in East Java. Tria Istiawan (28 years old) was arrested on December 7, 2018. Meanwhile, Alfi Yusuf (28 years old) and Kholikul Mahmud (31 years old) were arrested on December 8, 2018.

"The perpetrators motive was to utilize the cashback voucher provided by Bukalapak by creating a number of [dummy] accounts and act as customers," said Second Chief of the Cyber Crime Sub-Directorate of the Crime Investigation Unit Sr. Commander Rickynaldo Chairul.

The three perpetrators were charge with multiple articles, including Article 51 (1) on electronic data manipulation, Article 372 of the Criminal Code on embezzlement, Article 378 of the Criminal Code on fraud, and Article 3,4, and 5, of the anti-money laundering law.

Ricky explained that the suspects conducted transactions normally. However, the goods being advertised were not in accordance with the goods being delivered. For example, the suspects would advertise a smartphone, while the actual goods their sending were merely documents, letters, or instant coffee.

"The manipulated funds were collected and gathered at the Bukadompet feature of the seller, and the cashback will be later used for further processes," Ricky stated.

The fraud is suspected to cause Bukalapak a total of IDR 70.06 million losses. Nevertheless, the company will continue to provide promotions for its customers.

"The point is, all of [Bukalapak] programs must be creative and innovative, so it will provide a fun shopping experience for customers," Ricky explained.

SURTI RISANTI