PPATK and the Ministry of Social Affairs Tighten Supervision of Accounts and E-Wallets Suspected of Online Gambling
Jakarta – The Head of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), Ivan Yustiavandana, emphasized that his office will block digital wallets (e-wallets) suspected of being used for online gambling.
“We have also handled many e-wallet cases,” said the Head of PPATK.
Ivan revealed that online gambling deposits via e-wallets reached Rp1.6 trillion across 12.6 million transactions. This blocking applies to both active e-wallets and dormant ones. He explained that e-wallets and fintech accounts are handled differently than idle accounts at conventional banks.
Previously, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) also implemented a policy of blocking bank accounts that had been inactive for three months. The Coordinator of the PPATK Public Relations Substance Group, M. Natsir Kongah, stated that many dormant accounts were being misused for illegal activities such as account trading and money laundering.
“To protect the public and the financial system, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) has temporarily suspended transactions in a number of dormant accounts,” the PPATK wrote on its official Instagram account on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.
Throughout 2023, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) received reports from banks regarding 12,097 accounts suspected of holding online gambling deposits, as well as 7,577 e-wallet accounts used for similar purposes. In 2024, the PPATK uncovered five e-wallet companies facilitating online gambling: DANA, OVO, GoPay, LinkAja, and ShopeePay. These suspicions arose from a surge in one-way top-up transactions without any outgoing transactions.
In line with these steps, the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) is also intensifying supervision of social assistance (bansos) funds to prevent misuse for online gambling.
“This assistance is intended to ease the economic burden on the community, not to be misused,” said Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf.
This warning was issued in conjunction with the implementation of Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 4 of 2025 concerning updating data on social assistance recipients. A comprehensive verification process, including checking recipient accounts and transactions, was conducted by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) through field surveys and account profile analysis.
“If a KPM account is found to be used for online gambling or has an unusual balance, the account will be frozen and the recipient removed from the social assistance list,” the Minister of Social Affairs emphasized.
The government is giving beneficiaries who feel they have been disadvantaged the opportunity to file a complaint through the Cek Bansos app, provided they provide valid evidence. The Ministry of Social Affairs urges social assistance recipients to use the funds for basic needs such as food, education, and healthcare.
“Social assistance is meant to ease the economic burden, not to be misused. Let’s use it wisely,” the Minister of Social Affairs urged.
