Legal Literacy - This article discusses the rise of fraud in online buying and selling because there are still legal loopholes in the regulations governing online transactions in Indonesia and will discuss how consumers can take precautions to be safer in online transactions.

Buying and selling transactions have evolved over time and it is now possible to carry out transactions electronically. As we know, there are various types of electronic transactions (e-commerce). The platforms that facilitate it are also increasing over time. However, legal violations regarding this matter are also increasing with various types.

The sale and purchase agreement itself, according to article 1457 of the Civil Code, is an agreement between the seller and the buyer where the seller binds himself to transfer his ownership of an item to the buyer, and the buyer binds himself to pay the price of the item. Regarding the validity of an agreement, we must look at article 1320 of the Civil Code which regulates the conditions for a valid agreement, including:

  1. Agreement of the parties
  2. Capacity to make an agreement
  3. A specific thing
  4. A lawful cause

Online buying and selling transactions can also be linked to Law No. 11 of 2008 concerning Electronic Information Technology (ITE) and to protect consumer interests, article 28 paragraph 1 of Law No. 11 of 2008 concerning ITE was created which explains that everyone intentionally and without rights disseminates false and misleading news which results in consumer losses in Electronic Transactions.

Even though it has been made in such a way regarding consumer protection and regulations regarding online buying and selling, many consumers are still being deceived in practice. This is because technology is increasingly developing and there are still insufficient regulations that truly protect consumers in online buying and selling practices. What often happens is fraud related to trading goods through social media. In this case, the fraudsters pretend to sell goods on their social media accounts and buy followers so that their accounts appear to have many followers. Buyers are also interested because the prices of the goods offered are usually slightly below the market, which attracts many people.

Fraudulent practices like this have been rife in recent years, but solutions to this problem have not yet been found. After transferring money to the seller, the buyer does not receive the goods and sometimes the buyer's account is immediately blocked by the seller and the seller runs away. As a buyer, they don't know what to do because the buyer doesn't know the seller's identity and even if they report it to the police, there is no further action regarding problems like this, especially if the transaction nominal is not too high.