Kyoto police announced Tuesday that a 69-year-old man has been scammed out of gold bars worth approximately ¥100 million ($688,000).
The self-employed man, residing in the Kamigyo Ward of Kyoto, received a call in late June from a man claiming to be from a mobile phone company, warning him that his phone service would be cut off in two hours.
Following instructions, the man called a provided number, where he was then contacted by individuals posing as police officers and prosecutors.
The impersonators informed him that an arrest warrant had been issued against him for financial fraud, urging him to hand over all his assets to prove his innocence. The scammers sent images of police IDs and arrest warrants via the messaging app LINE to make the story more convincing.
On the evening of July 17, the victim was instructed to place the gold bars, weighing 7.4 kilograms, in a bag at his front door, which was later stolen. On July 26, he was again duped into leaving ¥6.7 million in cash at a nearby park, which was also taken.
Kyoto police note that a similar scam had occurred in June, where a 73-year-old unemployed woman in the city was defrauded of gold bars worth about ¥52 million. In that case, two Taiwanese men, age 23 and 44, were arrested on June 26 on suspicion of attempting to defraud more gold from the same woman.