Over 1,000 Indonesian students from 33 universities were funnelled into factory and construction work under a scheme that falsely invoked a real Indonesian government education programme’s name. The ministry publicly denied any connection.
This was a study/internship visa scheme, not a true Ausbildung — the distinction matters, but the pattern is directly relevant: fraudsters invoked the real MBKM programme name to make a fake “campus acceptance letter” (sold for around €150) and fake “work permit” (around €200) look official, plus additional charges running up to 50 million rupiah. Students ended up doing 12-plus-hour factory and café shifts with no study credit. German and Indonesian police investigated; arrest warrants were issued.
The lesson generalises directly to Ausbildung applicants: a scheme invoking a real government programme’s name is not the same as being endorsed by it. Verify any “official programme” claim directly with the named ministry, not through whoever is selling you the offer.
There is a real, growing German-Indonesian pipeline alongside this — roughly 1,000 nursing/skilled-worker visas issued annually, with a reported Indonesian plan to fund German-language training and Goethe-Institut exams for up to 10,000 young people. The scam above exploited that genuine momentum; it didn’t invent it.