Tongkat ali scam with forged and irrelevant government licenses
One Tongkat Ali scam currently making the rounds involves tricking people out of their money by presenting forged or irrelevant Indonesian government licenses, as well as fabricated lab tests.
Irrelevant licenses often include basic business registrations that do not certify the safety, purity, or efficacy of a health product.
Indonesia is a democratic republic with a civil law system heavily influenced by its Dutch colonial history, meaning many administrative rules parallel those of Western countries.
For example, basic business registration is relatively straightforward. In Germany, such a document is called a Gewerbeschein (business registration), and it can be issued quickly.
Even street vendors selling newspapers or handmade jewelry need to register their trade.
The situation in Indonesia is similar, though the specific terminology and systems have recently been modernized.
Historically, the following basic administrative documents were issued to almost any Indonesian business that applied for them:
SIUP (Surat Izin Usaha Perdagangan) - A general trading business permit.
TDP (Tanda Daftar Perusahaan) - A company registration certificate.
HO (Surat Izin Gangguan) - A nuisance permit (largely abolished in recent years to streamline business licensing).
Akte Pendirian - A notarial deed of establishment (required for forming formal legal entities like a PT or CV, which is a more complex legal process than a simple street vendor permit).
Today, under Indonesia's Online Single Submission (OSS) system, these have largely been consolidated into a single NIB (Nomor Induk Berusaha, or Business Identification Number). While obtaining an NIB is a standard formality for operating a business, it is merely a general business license. It does not certify that a specific ingestible product is safe or effective.
Any Indonesian website selling Tongkat Ali that tries to project an image of medical credibility by publishing only these general business documents is misleading consumers. Relying on such a vendor can be an expensive mistake, both financially and in terms of potential health risks.
The most relevant certification that an Indonesian business selling ingestible Tongkat Ali products must possess is a registration number from BPOM (Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan, the Indonesian Food and Drug Authority). Historically, some products were registered under the Department of Health (Depkes), but BPOM is the current, strict regulatory standard. For traditional herbal medicines (known as Jamu), the product must have a specific BPOM TR (Traditional Medicine) registration number.
Any buyer of a Tongkat Ali product originating from Indonesia, or claiming to originate from Indonesia, should demand the BPOM TR number from the vendor. If the vendor cannot provide a verifiable BPOM registration for the specific product being sold, it is highly likely the product is unregulated, potentially fake, and possibly dangerous.
If a supplier provides a BPOM number, you can verify it. Some illegitimate distributors simply copy a legitimate BPOM number from a different, unrelated product. The BPOM database is public and can be checked online to ensure the registration number actually matches the specific Tongkat Ali product and manufacturer in question.
Furthermore, I have seen fraudulent documents where scammers misrepresent large, established production facilities as belonging to their own newly established, unverified outfits.
Buyer beware. It doesn't take much computer knowledge to forge scans of documents or steal images from legitimate websites.
If you want graphic proof of how authentic a company is, look for verifiable photos and facility tours. Photos and videos are harder to fake than PDF scans of "licenses." Any genuine, transparent manufacturer will include verifiable photos or videos of their actual buildings, staff, raw materials, and production processes on their website.