Cybercrime in the Context of Cellular Telephone Scams

Abstract

Technological advancement comes with both positive and negative impacts to the society, including the cybercrime. The main problems discussed in this study is regulation of criminal acts of scams committed through electronic media, particularly SMS, as well as the efforts to handle such crime in accordance with applicable legal provisions, both based on the Criminal Code and based on Law Number 11 of 2008 on Electronic Information and Transactions that has been amended by Law no. 19 of 2016. This study applies the Normative Legal Research method. The results showed that the criminal act of scams committed online was in principle similar to that of conventional fraud, the only difference being the means of action, namely using an electronic system, namely computers, the internet, or cellular telecommunication devices. Based on the prevailing legal provisions, online fraud can be treated similar to that conventional offenses stipulated in the Criminal Code (KUHP), so that the case handling process is also based both on the Criminal Code and Electronic Information and Transactions law