Praise be: police in Jakarta have arrested a man suspected of carrying out QR code fraud at dozens of mosques in the capital.
Yesterday, a video circulated widely showing a man caught by a CCTV camera placing stickers, containing a QR code linked to what appears to be his personal bank account, on donation boxes at the Nurul Iman Mosque in Blok M, South Jakarta.
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The footage triggered immense outrage in Muslim-majority Indonesia. Soon, more footage and reports emerged indicating that the man had carried out the same MO in recent weeks at several mosques throughout South Jakarta and Bintaro, South Tangerang. Perhaps his biggest heist was carried out at the Istiqlal grand mosque in Central Jakarta, where caretakers found 50 of his fraudulent QR code stickers.
Today, the Jakarta Metro Police announced the man’s capture, and confirmed that he is the sole suspect behind the set of recently discovered fraudulent QR code stickers at Jakarta mosques.
But there’s more.
In a press conference this afternoon, police identified the suspect to be a 49-year-old man who goes by his initials IM. Preliminary investigation into the case has revealed that IM has carried out his MO at 38 locations – mostly mosques, and shopping malls, too.
“[He placed the stickers] in several other places, like Pondok Indah Mall and Grand Indonesia,” Jakarta Metro Police Special Crimes Investigation Director Auliansyah Lubis told reporters.
From what the police know so far, IM has been spreading his QR code stickers since April 1, though they are looking into the possibility that he had other targets before this period.
IM may face at least five years in prison for fraud.
IM’s stickers contain a QR code linked to an account under the name of “Restorasi Mesjid” (Mosque renovations) from a bank based in Medan, North Sumatra. Authorities believe that IM set up the account for the sole purpose of carrying out this scam.
Going from the CCTV footage, online sleuths have exposed social media pages believed to belong to IM, which indicate that he, ironically, worked as a fraud investigator.
