Consumers in Japan sought advice from authorities on fake celebrity advertisements for investment on social media in 1,629 cases in fiscal 2023, up nearly tenfold from the previous year's 170 cases, the National Consumer Affairs Center said Tuesday.
In the year that ended in March, fake ad victims lost ¥6.87 million ($43,500) on average, about three times ¥2.34 million the year before, with the biggest single loss standing at ¥170 million, the center said, urging consumers not to trust social media ads soliciting investments.
In one case, a woman in her 60s paid ¥15 million, in total, after she applied for an investment consultation with a prominent economist through a social media ad and was offered a "more profitable investment deal" by a person claiming to be the economist's assistant. When she tried to withdraw gains later, she was told to pay ¥9 million in commission and ¥13 million in tax.
According to the National Police Agency, such fraudulent investment ad cases have been increasing since July last year, totaling as many as 1,700 cases only in the first three months of this year with some ¥22 billion stolen.
In a related development, billionaire entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa and fraud victims have sued Meta Platforms, alleging the U.S. social media platform giant left fake ads intact.
On Tuesday, the government drew up comprehensive measures to cope with the problem, such as asking social media operators to strictly check ads in advance.
An official of the center calls for "self-defense," warning that those who ask that money be sent to accounts under personal names are scammers.