Indonesia freezes nearly 40,000 bank accounts linked to online gambling

Indonesian authorities have frozen 39,923 bank accounts linked to online gambling, marking an increase of 1,127 accounts since October 2026. This action is part of a coordinated effort by the Financial Services Authority (OJK), Bank Indonesia, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), and the Indonesian National Police to disrupt the financing of illegal gaming operators.

In Central Java alone, OJK reports that nearly 1.5 million people are involved in online gambling, making it one of the regions with the highest number of players in the country. A concerning trend has emerged where the use of borrowed funds for gambling has increased by nearly 80% since 2024, with illegal online loans often being used to top up gambling balances.

The scale of the issue is significant, with the PPATK reporting that online gambling schemes collected as much as Rp86.8 trillion (approximately $4.79 billion) in the first half of 2026. Additionally, the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs stated that over 4.03 million gambling websites were shut down between October 2024 and September 2026.