All reportedly because of online gambling addictions.
Online and offline gambling are crimes punishable by a prison term in Indonesia, as is organizing a gambling event.
But with the increase of access to technology and smart devices, online gambling has become deeply entrenched in our society. Lawmakers, civil servants, the police and the very people supposed to protect us from the practice and the harm it causes are just as vulnerable to it as the rest of us.
The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) said on Wednesday that more than 1,000 members of the national and regional legislatures, including 82 House of Representatives lawmakers, had been gambling online. The anti-money laundering agency traced 63,000 transactions involving public officials, with some depositing between hundreds of millions and billions of rupiah.
The newly established online gambling task force said an undisclosed number of civil servants, as well as National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel had engaged in online gambling.
Online gambling is addictive, but most people are unaware of the profound psychological and financial tolls it poses.
Online gambling websites are often advertised with attractive graphics, making them seem like other games. Many of them offer a free trial and even display QR-code-facilitated payment services or pay-later facilities.
Algorithms that let players win in the beginning entice new users, but when people become hooked, the more they play, the more they lose.
After falling into the trap, some players cannot stop until they run out of money. They often resort to online loans.