Ride-hailing app drivers caught faking orders in Jakarta

The Jakarta Police have arrested four suspects for allegedly placing fake orders on ride-hailing app GoJek over the course of two months.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr Comr Argo Yuwono said that all the suspects, identified as RP, 30, CA, 20, RW, 24, and KA, 21, were registered GoJek drivers. They were arrested at the Taman Duta Mas shopping avenue in Jelambar, West Jakarta, on February 1.

"When arrested, they were committing [the crime]," Argo said at the Jakarta Police headquarters on Wednesday, tempo.co reported.

He said that each suspect had registered up to 30 fake accounts, from which they could make Rp 10 million (US$678) per person per day.

The suspects manipulated the GoJek system to make the fake orders. "In the GoJek application, it looks like they were serving passengers while in fact they weren't," Argo explained.

During questioning, the suspects reportedly admitted they had committed the crime since December last year.

Argo said the police were currently searching for another person who played a role as someone who made the fake orders.

However, the police refused to reveal a name as it was an ongoing investigation.

The police said the suspects would be charged under the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law.

Copyright: The Jakarta Post/ Asia News Network