Foreigners report that Permata Bank is blocking funds in accounts “for further investigation.” The reason? A “scam” complaint filed with Permata’s security service by a participant in a USDT-to-rupiah exchange. Balinese chat groups are flooded with messages from people who have already fallen victim to this scheme.
The scheme itself seems odd, and at first glance, it’s hard to understand who benefits from it. Apparently, anyone who has recently exchanged crypto via P2P is at risk of having their account blocked. The amount and frequency of transactions don’t seem to matter.
“My Permata app suddenly stopped opening. All day, it showed a message saying ‘technical maintenance is in progress.’ But when I went to the bank, I found out that all operations with my money were prohibited,” says John, a resident of Ubud. “A bank employee showed me the name of an Indonesian person who filed a scam complaint against me. I remembered that a couple of weeks ago, I exchanged around 120 USDT with him via P2P. However, he also claimed an additional transaction of Rp 3,000,000, which never happened! The strangest part is that he is a merchant with excellent reviews, closing 600-700 deals per month. Why would he do this?”
It would be easy to suspect Indonesian crypto traders, but Permata does not cancel the receipt of funds—it freezes the entire account. Moreover, some of the people filing complaints about scams after P2P exchanges on ByBit are foreigners.
“I exchanged USDT for rupiah several times, withdrawing to Permata. Suddenly, the bank froze my account. It turned out that some guy named Herman filed a complaint against four different people. When I went to the central office, I found out that there were more than 10 affected individuals. The bank employees told me the freeze could last 2-3 months, during which time they would visit my home to investigate,” says Alexander. “In the ByBit chat, this Herman does not respond to me. I don’t understand the point of filing a complaint against him. But after reading P2P exchange chats, I realize that this is becoming a widespread issue.”
Bank representatives have already visited John. They spoke with the owner of his apartment and even promised to ask about him in the local banjar (Balinese community council). Meanwhile, his funds remain inaccessible.
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