Escape The Hack: Countering Cyber Scams with an Immersive Experience for Everyday Indonesians

Indonesia faces a pervasive and evolving cybercrime threat, with online scams growing in number and sophistication – while U.S. families continue to lose their life’s savings to international cybercrime, totaling over $12 billions in financial losses in 2023 alone. Unlike scam compounds in mainland Southeast Asia, criminal scam operations in Indonesia are decentralized and embedded within transnational networks. Thousands of Indonesian nationals have worked in scam compounds in Cambodia, Burma, and Laos, and there is now concern crackdowns in other countries prompting a wave of experienced Indonesian scammers to return home to establish new operations in collaboration with Chinese and other scam groups.

To strengthen its efforts in combating scams, Indonesia established an Anti-Scam Center (IASC) in 2024 to respond to citizen complaints, block fraudulent transactions, and recover victim funds. IASC data shows an average of 1,300 complaints per day. The IASC reports approximately $500 million in victim losses from November 2025 to March 2026, of which only $9.75 million has been recovered — a two percent recovery rate. To date, IDN law enforcement has not successfully recovered funds for U.S. victims. Officials state that victims’ delayed reporting (average of 24-48 hours) to the IASC and Indonesian National Police (INP) significantly contributes to law enforcement's inability to recover victim funds. Faster reporting directly correlates with higher asset recovery rates, as fraudulent transactions can be blocked before funds are transferred across multiple accounts or jurisdictions.

In addition to harming U.S. citizens, digital fraud hurts U.S. companies as cybercrimes increasingly rely on direct messaging, platform-specific targeting, and syndicate-level tactics, with social media platforms emerging as a major channel for phishing, malicious APK files, fake investment groups, video-call extortion, and account takeovers. Criminal scam groups also tailor tactics...