Posts target Indonesia digital payment users with scam 'physical card' perks
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on October 6, 2023 at 13:49
- 4 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
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One post was shared here on a Facebook page called "Daftar Kartu Fisik DANA" -- which in Indonesian means "Register for DANA's Physical Cards" -- on September 14, 2023.
The page uses as its profile picture the logo of DANA, a popular Indonesian e-wallet provider with a reported 135 million users in the archipelago (archived link).
The post shows what appears to be two DANA bank cards.
It says users who sign up for a purported physical card are entitled to a host of benefits including free transfers to all banks, free cash withdrawals at all ATMs and a 50% shopping discount for new users.
"Let's issue your DANA Physical Card now (for free). For more details, please contact via WhatsApp," the post says.
Similar posts promoting DANA "physical cards" have also been shared in other Facebook pages that bear logos of the firm, such as here, here, here and here.
Other Facebook posts indicate some people believed the claim and had been defrauded.
"I was a victim and the 770,000 IDR ($50) in my balance was gone," wrote one Facebook user, sharing screenshots of a post pretending to be from DANA.
"Our money is gone," another user wrote, followed by crying emojis. "Clicked once and the balance was gone."
No physical cards
The firm denied issuing physical cards and branded posts making such claims as "scams".
"There is a lot of false information saying that DANA has issued physical ATM cards. Remember, DANA has never issued physical cards. DANA is a digital wallet app that collaborates with various banks in Indonesia," the firm said in a statement posted on its website on July 17, 2023 (archived link).
The company also provided a similar response when asked on X, formerly Twitter about physical cards (archived link).
"I want to inform you that DANA currently does not provide a physical card feature. Please be cautious of scams. Never give out OTP code, PIN, transfer money, or provide information related to your DANA account to strangers," reads DANA's response.
Imposter pages
Moreover, the pages that promote the purported DANA "physical card" are not verified and had only been created in September 2023.
DANA's accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube bear verification badges that indicate each respective social media platform had found them authentic (archived links here, here, here and here).
Below is a screenshot comparison between the "Daftar Kartu Fisik DANA" page that shared the false claim (left) and DANA's official Facebook page (right):
The "Daftar Kartu Fisik DANA" page also has WhatsApp contact details using a typical 12-digit Indonesian mobile phone number. But according to DANA's website, its official number has seven digits (archived link).
The image of the cards featured in the posts had been taken from stock photo website Pixabay and added with a purported customer name and account number (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison between the image in the false posts (left) and the Pixabay stock photo (right):
Many Indonesians had fallen prey to online scams promising cash or giveaways. AFP previously debunked similar posts here, here and here.
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