Fake Arisan in Banjarmasin: Fictitious Members Cashed Out First, 11 Victims Lose Rp 305 Million

BANJARMASIN, KOMPAS.com - Eleven people have become victims of alleged fraud and embezzlement disguised as an online arisan (rotating savings and credit association) scheme in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.

The total losses suffered by the victims reached Rp 305 million.

The case was uncovered by the Criminal Investigation Unit of Banjarmasin Police, which named a woman identified as NJ as the suspect.

Banjarmasin Police Chief Commissioner Riza Muttaqin stated that the case came to light after several victims reported it to the police.

"This case began to unfold after some victims filed reports with the authorities," said Banjarmasin Police Chief Commissioner Riza Muttaqin, as reported by TribunBanjarmasin on Thursday (17/9/2026).

Fake Memberships and Slot Reselling Tactics

The police revealed that NJ’s online arisan scheme involved using fictitious member names.

These fake names were created to secure earlier turns to receive payouts.

After collecting funds from genuine members and distributing them to fake members, NJ halted the arisan and disappeared.

"The suspect’s contact via WhatsApp messages could no longer be reached by the participants," he explained.

In addition to creating fake members, NJ also sold arisan slots to victims through a buying and selling (jubel) scheme, promising profits within a month.

However, when the promised period ended, neither the principal funds nor the promised profits were returned by the suspect.

Investigators also uncovered instances where the same arisan slots were sold to multiple victims.

"Based on investigators' findings, arisan slots already sold to one victim were resold to others," Riza added.

From the investigation, the police noted that the largest individual loss amounted to Rp 138.8 million.

Riza explained that this victim participated in the arisan with a get system amounting to Rp 22 million and also purchased jubel arisan slots from NJ.

NJ has now been detained at the Banjarmasin Police Headquarters along with several pieces of evidence.

For causing losses totaling hundreds of millions of rupiah, the suspect is charged under Article 492 of Law No. 1 of 2023 concerning Fraud and/or Article 486 of Law No. 1 of 2023 concerning Embezzlement.