SIM Card Stolen, Ilham Bintang's Money in Bank Account All Gone

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Senior journalist Ilham Bintang reported the theft of his subscriber identity module (SIM) card number and also the theft of his bank account to the police.

“I have reported it on Friday,” he said when contacted by ANTARA in Jakarta, on Saturday, January 18, 2020.

The senior journalist has also appointed Elza Sjarief as his attorney for the case, as well as completing all the data needed for the legal process.

The data includes CCTV footage recorded at 21:02 local time on January 3, 2020, at Bintaro Jaya Xchange Mall’s Indosat Store, Banten, the suspect suspect's entry form, transaction details at Commonwealth Bank, as well as his BNI credit card.

Ilham said that the theft of his cellphone card number and his account started from the exchange of SIM cards at the Indosat outlet. As the store is fortunately equipped with CCTV, it went on to show the criminal actions that took place.

“Supposedly, when they are aware of the occurrence of such criminal acts, it should be immediately reported to the police. However, when I reported the crime that happened to me to the police, I learned that I was the first person to report the case,” he said.

Ilham clarified that Indosat had met with him and provided the CCTV footage, a letter confirming the exchange of the SIM card on January 3, 2020, and a photocopy of the form filled out by the perpetrator.

In a meeting with the Commonwealth, Ilham protested strongly as the bank has failed to protect and provide security for its clients.

“I conveyed a strong protest. I also expressed my utmost disappointment to those whom I had trusted to safekeep my money, but do not maintain that trust properly,” Ilham said.

During the meeting Ilham immediately closed his account and made a deposit withdrawal at the Commonwealth Bank.

According to Ilham, the securing and protecting of clients done by the bank was quite tight two years ago. “But, on the January 6 theft incident, in just a few hours, my savings were drained. It doesn't make sense, but that's the fact of the matter,” he said.

Ilham purposely announced the closing of his Commonwealth bank account as well as withdrawal of his deposits on his Facebook account. “So that everybody can learn valuable lessons,” he said on Facebook.

As a result of the SIM card and bank account theft, Ilham Bintang suffered a loss upwards of hundreds of millions of Rupiah in cash. All the money in his bank account had been stolen by the perpetrators of the cellular card number theft.

ANTARA | DIO SUHENDA