Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has blocked 233 illegal online lenders in the period from January 1 to February 13, 2024, taking the total number of such lenders blocked by the authority to 2,481.The illegal lenders were blocked by the OJK's Illegal Financial Activities Eradication (PASTI) Task Force, according to chief executive of financial services business conduct, education, and consumer protection supervision at the OJK, Friderica Widyasari Dewi.
"From January 1, 2023, to February 13, 2024, the PASTI Task Force has stopped 3,031 illegal financial entities, comprising 40 illegal investment, and 2,481 illegal online lenders," she said at a press conference on the results of the February meeting of the OJK's board of commissioners here on Monday.
Meanwhile, as of February 26, 2024, the number of complaints lodged against illegal online lenders reached 3,121, while the number of complaints related to illegal investments stood at 175.
To strengthen consumer protection, besides blocking illegal entities, the OJK has formulated internal provisions for supervising the conduct of financial services business players or the market, which complement sectoral/prudential supervision.
The provisions consist of preventive and proactive measures for responding to all behaviors shown by financial services business players, thereby supporting the enforcement of the principle of consumer and community protection.
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Earlier, Dewi opined that illegal online lending is still continuing to grow due to the low level of financial literacy among people. The current level of literacy on digital financial services in society is seen as inadequate for responding to illegal online loan offers, especially in relation to information available via phones. Furthermore, she said that illegal online lending has been pushed by the emergence of illegal lending entities that utilize foreign servers as well as the ease of applying for such loans.