A group on messaging application Telegram allegedly orchestrating an online prostitution ring featuring foreign women is in the spotlight in Bali, with police launching an investigation into the discreet operation.
Local news outlets reported that a Telegram account, @bh_hanna, went viral after it was suspected of exclusively offering sex escort services from foreign women.
Bali Police Spokesman Jansen Avitus Panjaitan was quoted by Antara news agency as saying that the police’s cyber crime unit is thoroughly investigating the matter.
“First of all, we have to make sure whether it happens in Bali or elsewhere,” Jansen said.
Operating under the alias @bh_hanna, the account has been marketing female sex workers (FSWs) via the Telegram group “BEVERLY BABES”.
Reports say that @bh_hanna’s profile portrays themselves as an escort agent spanning Bali, Phuket, and Singapore. As of Friday afternoon, this account had reportedly presented 19 women available for open booking, complete with their identities in the BEVERLY BABES Telegram group.
Beyond the roster of foreign female sex workers, the BEVERLY BABES group divulges pertinent details, including age, bust measurements, stature, services offered, and rates. The Telegram account also divulges the whereabouts of several foreign female sex workers, spanning locales from Canggu, Ubud, Seminyak, Uluwatu, to Nusa Dua.
The group allegedly was established in June and had more than 2,000 members, with cryptocurrency reportedly used as a payment method.
Rates started from US$350 (IDR5.5 million) for outcall services.
One of the featured foreign women, identified by the initial “S”, is a 26-year-old situated in Seminyak. She purportedly offers a spectrum of services, from intimate liaisons to provocative massages. The fee for these services reportedly reached US$2,000 (IDR31.8 million) for a duration of 10 to 12 hours.
This instance of foreign nationals allegedly engaging in sex work in Bali is not an isolated occurrence. In March 2023, the Bali Immigration Office deported three Russian women after they were found in a Seminyak villa in the company of three Indonesian citizens, reportedly offering escort services to the latter.
