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Low reported severity Criminal Charges

Indonesia: police say deepfake videos of President Prabowo offering aid led viewers to pay fake 'administrative fees'; two suspects arrested in early 2025

Indonesian police say a 29-year-old man and a 25-year-old in Lampung province made or spread AI deepfake videos showing President Prabowo Subianto, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani and other officials offering government aid, with a WhatsApp number attached. According to police, viewers who contacted the number were asked to transfer an 'administrative fee' and promised a disbursement that never existed; police recorded 11 victims of the first suspect from five provinces, and the second suspect alone is said by police to have taken roughly Rp 65 million from roughly 100 people in 20 provinces since December 2024. A police forensic laboratory reported the video as a deepfake with a near-100% fake score. The suspects were arrested on 16 January and 4 February 2025 and handed to prosecutors in April 2025.

AI system
Unidentified video tool
Occurred
Nov 2024 to Feb 2025
Reported
24 January 2025
Event location
Indonesia
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person · Communicated with the person
Reported harm
Financial Loss
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Finance · Public services · Everyday life
Evidence
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution alleged · 8 sources, 2 underlying accounts
5 claims: 5 reported. 7 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 11 people

AI system as recorded: Deepfake video tool, not identified, which police say was used to make videos with a face and voice resembling President Prabowo Subianto and other officials offering government aid; a Bareskrim forensic laboratory reported a deepfake face-detection score of nearly 100% fake

What Happened

Indonesia's national police cyber crime directorate (Dittipidsiber Bareskrim) announced on 23 January 2025 that a cyber patrol had found an Instagram post in which a video of President Prabowo Subianto asked viewers for money, and that a 29-year-old man had been arrested in Lampung on 16 January 2025. Police said he made videos with deepfake technology in the name of state officials, including the president, the vice president and the finance minister, offering government aid to people in need, and spread them on several social media platforms. People who contacted the number in the videos were asked to transfer money as an administrative fee and then repeatedly promised that the aid would be disbursed, although it never existed; police said he made about Rp 30 million in four months and that the fraud dated back to 2020. Police said they had recorded 11 victims from five provinces, with individual losses of Rp 250,000 to Rp 1 million, and that he was assisted by a second person, still wanted, who prepared or edited the deepfake videos.

On 7 February 2025 police announced a second arrest, of a 25-year-old detained in Lampung province on 4 February 2025. Police said the suspect downloaded such videos from other accounts, uploaded them to an Instagram account with about 9,400 followers that the suspect ran, and attached a WhatsApp number; people who contacted the number after watching were asked for administrative fees for aid that never came. Police put the suspect's victims at roughly 100 people from 20 provinces, most from East Java, Central Java and Papua, and the suspect's proceeds since December 2024 at roughly Rp 65 million. Police said the Bareskrim digital forensic laboratory found a deepfake face in the video with a score of nearly 100% fake and signs of frames being combined through editing.

AFP reported, in a piece carried by The Jakarta Post on 3 March 2025, that one clip, posted in November, showed the president appearing to ask 'Who hasn't received aid from me? What are your needs right now?', that those drawn in paid Rp 250,000 to Rp 1 million, and that AFP's fact-checkers found the posting account had published dozens of similar videos of other officials. Police said in April 2025 that both suspects had been handed to district prosecutors. No trial or verdict is reported.

Reported harm

Police say viewers who believed the deepfake videos paid 'administrative fees' for aid that never existed; police put the second suspect's proceeds at roughly Rp 65 million from roughly 100 people and the first suspect's at about Rp 30 million in four months.

How Harm Occurred

AI-generated videos impersonated the president and other officials speaking directly to viewers and offering aid, which gave the fraudulent offer the authority of the office; viewers who believed the video contacted the attached number and paid repeated 'administrative fees' for a disbursement that police say never existed.

Outcome

Ongoing

Police arrested a 29-year-old man on 16 January 2025 and a 25-year-old on 4 February 2025, both in Lampung province. Police said the first suspect was assisted by a second person, still wanted as of 23 January 2025, who prepared or edited the deepfake videos. Police said in April 2025 that the suspects and evidence were handed to the Central Lampung district prosecutor (15 April) and the Pekalongan city district prosecutor (28 April). No trial or verdict is reported in the inspected sources.

What remains unknown

  • The exact number of people who paid and the amount each paid; police gave approximate totals only.
  • When the first deepfake video of President Prabowo was posted; AFP describes a clip posted in November (2024) and police say the second suspect operated since 2024, while the first suspect is said to have defrauded people since 2020 (not necessarily with videos of the president). Police also said the first suspect made about Rp 30 million 'in four months' (detikNews, 24 January 2025), which, if counted back from his 16 January 2025 arrest, reaches about September 2024; the bodies do not say which months.
  • Whether the account AFP examined belongs to either arrested suspect.
  • Whether the person police said prepared or edited the first suspect's videos, wanted as of 23 January 2025, was arrested.
  • AFP (carried by The Jakarta Post, 3 March 2025) described the second arrested person as 'involved in another scam that also used deepfake technology', while police described the second arrest as a development of the first case ('pengembangan dari kasus sebelumnya', detikNews 7 February 2025); whether the two suspects' videos were connected is not established.
  • The deepfake tool or service used.
  • The outcome of the prosecutions.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: supported. Police said the suspects made or spread videos produced with deepfake technology using a face and voice resembling President Prabowo Subianto and other officials, in which the figure offers government aid; AFP described one such clip in which the president appears to ask viewers who has not yet received aid from him. Police said the Bareskrim digital forensic laboratory found a deepfake face in the video with a score of nearly 100% fake and frames combined through editing. The videos impersonated the officials toward the viewers (depicted_or_impersonated) and addressed them directly as a speaking persona (communicated_with), and police connect them to the harm: viewers who contacted the attached number paid 'administrative fees' for aid that never existed. The tool used is not identified, the forensic report itself was not inspected, and the charges have not been tested at trial.

5 claims: 5 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Police (Bareskrim's cyber crime directorate) said at a 23 January 2025 press conference that a 29-year-old man arrested in Lampung on 16 January 2025 had made and spread, on several social media platforms, deepfake videos in the name of state officials, including President Prabowo Subianto, offering government aid; viewers who contacted the number shown were asked to transfer money as an 'administrative fee' and were promised disbursement of aid that never existed. Police said he had made about Rp 30 million in four months. Police said they had recorded 11 victims from five provinces, with individual losses of Rp 250,000 to Rp 1 million and about Rp 30 million in total.

Causal attribution. Police account of the first suspect, relayed by detikNews; the suspect has not been tried and no court record was inspected.

  • news.detik.com(opens in new tab) supports · Indonesian
    'Tersangka AMA membuat video yang memanfaatkan teknologi deepfake mengatasnamakan pejabat negara dalam bentuk video dengan isi konten penawaran bantuan pemerintah kepada masyarakat yang membutuhkan'; 'Setelah itu korban diminta untuk mentransfer sejumlah uang dengan alasan biaya administrasi dan kemudian akan terus dijanjikan pencairan dana oleh tersangka hingga korban mentransfer kembali walaupun sebenarnya dana bantuan tersebut tidak pernah ada'; 'Polisi kemudian menangkap pria inisial AMA, berusia 29 tahun, di Lampung, pada 16 Januari 2025'; 'Pelaku mendapat Rp 30 juta dalam empat bulan'; 'Polisi telah mendata 11 orang yang menjadi korban video tipu-tipu itu'; 'Bisa mulai dari Rp 250.000, Rp 500.000, Rp 700.000, sampai dengan Rp 1 juta'
  • news.detik.com(opens in new tab) supports · Indonesian
    'AMA ditangkap pada 16 Januari 2025. Modus operandinya adalah video deepfake yang mencatut Presiden Prabowo itu memberi penawaran bantuan pemerintah'
Reported Police said at a 7 February 2025 press conference that a second suspect, a 25-year-old arrested on 4 February 2025 in Lampung province, downloaded deepfake videos showing a face and voice resembling President Prabowo and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, uploaded them to an Instagram account the suspect ran with a WhatsApp number attached, and asked people who contacted the number after watching to transfer 'administrative fees' for aid that never existed; police put the suspect's victims at roughly 100 people from 20 provinces and the suspect's proceeds since December 2024 at roughly Rp 65 million.

Causal attribution. Police account relayed by detikNews and AFP; the roughly 100 and 20 provinces figures are police approximations ('kurang lebih'), not a documented minimum. The AFP text gives the proceeds as 'Rp 65 rupiah', an evident omission of 'million'.

  • news.detik.com(opens in new tab) supports · Indonesian
    'Mengunggah dan menyebarluaskan video di platform media sosial Instagram memanfaatkan teknologi deepfake menggunakan foto dan suara menyerupai bapak Presiden Prabowo Subianto dan Menteri Keuangan Sri Mulyani'; 'Dia menyebut JS menyertakan nomor WA-nya. Dia mengatakan JS melakukan penipuan kepada orang-orang yang menghubunginya lewat WA setelah menonton video itu'; 'sejak bulan Desember (2024) tersangka telah meraup keuntungan kurang lebih Rp 65 juta. Korbannya kurang lebih 100 orang berasal dari 20 provinsi'
  • news.detik.com(opens in new tab) supports · Indonesian
    'Himawan menjelaskan keuntungan ini didapat JS dari 100 korban yang melihat video palsu miliknya menampilkan Presiden Prabowo seolah-olah akan memberikan bansos kepada masyarakat. Seratusan korban JS ini tertipu dengan mentransfer uang ke nomor rekening yang diberikan JS agar dapat memperoleh bansos'
  • news.detik.com(opens in new tab) supports · Indonesian
    'Pada tanggal 4 Februari 2025, penyidik Direktorat Tindak Pidana Siber Bareskrim Polri berhasil mengamankan tersangka berinisial JS, 25 tahun'; 'JS mengunduh video dari akun orang lain dengan kata kunci 'Prabowo give away''
  • thejakartapost.com(opens in new tab) context · English
    'Police arrested a suspect who pocketed Rp 65 rupiah ($4,000) from the scam, Brig. Gen. Himawan Bayu Aji, director of the National Police Cyber Crime Unit told reporters in February'
Reported Police said the Bareskrim digital forensic laboratory analysed the video and found a deepfake face with a detection score of nearly 100% fake, a generative adversarial network detection score of 1.00, and frames of text and images combined through editing.

Causal attribution. The laboratory result is known only through the police statement at the press conference; the laboratory report itself was not inspected.

  • news.detik.com(opens in new tab) supports · Indonesian
    'Bahwa hasil analisa dengan menggunakan software video forensik metode deepfake face detection, pada video tersebut terdapat adanya deepfake face dengan nilai hampir 100% fake'; 'deepfake didapat nilai GANN Generative Adversarial Neural Network dengan score gun 1.00. Dari hasil analisa error level analysis, terdapat adanya penggabungan frame berupa tulisan dan gambar yang dijadikan satu dalam satu video yang menandakan adanya proses editing'
Reported AFP reported that a clip posted in November on Instagram showed President Prabowo appearing to ask viewers 'Who hasn't received aid from me? What are your needs right now?', that those drawn in were told to contact a WhatsApp number and pay Rp 250,000 to Rp 1 million as an 'administrative fee', and that AFP's fact-checkers found the account behind the clip had posted dozens of similar videos of other high-profile figures, including Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, promoting the bogus aid.

Causal attribution. AFP's own observation of the clip and account; the article does not say whether this account is one of the two run by the arrested suspects. The Rp 250,000 to Rp 1 million range is also the police's own figure for the first suspect's victims (detikNews, 24 January 2025).

  • thejakartapost.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    '"Who hasn't received aid from me? What are your needs right now?" Prabowo appears to ask viewers in the clip posted in November'; 'Those ensnared by the message were asked to contact a WhatsApp number and hand over between Rp 250,000 and Rp 1 million ($15-$60) as an "administrative fee" to get aid that never materialised'; 'AFP's fact-checkers found the account behind the Prabowo clip has posted dozens of similar videos appearing to show various high-profile figures, including Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka'
  • news.detik.com(opens in new tab) supports · Indonesian
    'Bisa mulai dari Rp 250.000, Rp 500.000, Rp 700.000, sampai dengan Rp 1 juta'
Reported Police said in April 2025 that the investigation of both suspects was complete and the suspects and evidence were handed to prosecutors: the first suspect to the Central Lampung district prosecutor on 15 April 2025 and the second to the Pekalongan city district prosecutor on 28 April 2025.

Causal attribution. Police statements relayed by detikNews; no prosecution or court record was inspected and no trial outcome is reported.

  • news.detik.com(opens in new tab) supports · Indonesian
    'AMA dilaksanakan tahap 2 di kantor Kejaksaan Negeri Lampung Tengah, Provinsi Lampung pada hari selasa tanggal 15 April 2025. Sedangkan tersangka inisial JS dilaksanakan tahap 2 di kantor Kejaksaan Negeri Pekalongan Kota pada hari Senin tanggal 28 April 2025'
  • news.detik.com(opens in new tab) supports · Indonesian
    'telah dilakukannya tahap II kepada Kejari Lampung Tengah untuk pelaku atas nama A.M.A'

Sources

8 sources inspected, from 2 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Indonesian-language article read by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09 and translated by it for this record; no human translator or reviewer read the article. detikNews, 24 January 2025, relaying the Bareskrim cyber directorate press conference of 23 January 2025 on the first arrest; HTTP 200. Applies to s1.

Indonesian-language article read by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09 and translated by it for this record; no human translator or reviewer read the article. detikNews, 7 February 2025, relaying the Bareskrim press conference of 7 February 2025 on the second arrest; HTTP 200. Applies to s2.

Indonesian-language article read by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09 and translated by it for this record; no human translator or reviewer read the article. detikNews, 7 February 2025, relaying the police account of the digital forensic laboratory analysis; HTTP 200. Applies to s3.

Indonesian-language article read by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09 and translated by it for this record; no human translator or reviewer read the article. detikNews, 7 February 2025, relaying the police figures on victims and proceeds; HTTP 200. Applies to s4.

Indonesian-language article read by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09 and translated by it for this record; no human translator or reviewer read the article. detikNews, 8 February 2025, summary of both arrests from the two police press conferences; HTTP 200. Applies to s5.

Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09; no translation was involved and no human reviewer read the article. The Jakarta Post, 3 March 2025, carrying an AFP report that describes the November clip, relays the February police figures and reports AFP Fact Check findings about the posting account; HTTP 200. Applies to s6.

Indonesian-language article read by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09 and translated by it for this record; no human translator or reviewer read the article. detikNews, 24 April 2025, relaying a written police statement on the handover of the case files to prosecutors; HTTP 200. Applies to s7.

Indonesian-language article read by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09 and translated by it for this record; no human translator or reviewer read the article. detikNews, 30 April 2025, relaying the police statement on the completed handover of both suspects to prosecutors; HTTP 200. Applies to s8.

Event countries: Indonesia. Affected-person countries: Indonesia. Court countries: Unknown.

The suspects were arrested in Lampung province, Indonesia; police said the videos were uploaded to Instagram, that they had recorded 11 victims of the first suspect from five Indonesian provinces, and that the second suspect's victims came from 20 Indonesian provinces, most from East Java, Central Java and Papua (detikNews, 24 January and 7 February 2025, relaying Bareskrim). The case was handed to Indonesian district prosecutors, but no court proceeding is reported, so court_countries is left empty.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-09: Published as a police-reported bounded series: Indonesia's national police described, at two press conferences and in later statements relayed by detikNews, deepfake videos of the president and other officials offering aid, the forensic finding that the video was a deepfake, the 'administrative fee' demands and the approximate proceeds and victim figures; AFP separately described a clip and the posting account. All claims are attributed to the police or AFP, counts are left unquantified, the suspects are not named, and no victim is identified.

People described

People in Indonesia who watched the deepfake aid videos, contacted the number shown and transferred money as 'administrative fees'; police recorded 11 victims of the first suspect from five provinces and put the second suspect's victims at roughly 100 people from 20 provinces, most from East Java, Central Java and Papua; no victim is named

People reported harmed in this case

At least 11 people

0 AI participants · 11 other people harmed

Additional affected people are described without a reliable count.

Police said on 23 January 2025 that they had recorded 11 victims of the first suspect's videos, from Central Java, East Java, South Sumatra, Southeast Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi, with individual losses from Rp 250,000 to Rp 1 million and about Rp 30 million in total (detikNews, 24 January 2025); that recorded count is the minimum. For the second suspect police gave only an approximation ('kurang lebih 100 orang', about 100 people), which is not a documented minimum and is left unquantified. The victims were deceived by videos made or spread by others, so none is counted as a direct AI user.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#deepfake#impersonation#fraud#government_aid#instagram#whatsapp#criminal_charges#indonesia

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Indonesia: police say deepfake videos of President Prabowo offering aid led viewers to pay fake 'administrative fees'; two suspects arrested in early 2025. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2024-indonesia-deepfake-videos-of-president-prabowo-offering-aid-administrative-fee-fraud-two-arrests

BibTeX

@misc{2024_indonesia_deepfake_videos_of_president_prabowo_offering_aid_administrative_fee_fraud_two_arrests,
  title = {Indonesia: police say deepfake videos of President Prabowo offering aid led viewers to pay fake 'administrative fees'; two suspects arrested in early 2025},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2024-indonesia-deepfake-videos-of-president-prabowo-offering-aid-administrative-fee-fraud-two-arrests}
}

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