Tag - fraud

 
 

FRAUD

A Nippon Express facility in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 7, 2024
Fraudulent transport insurance claims found at Nippon Express
The offices falsified data and documents related to insurance contracts and claimed insurance money for cargoes without insurance contracts.
Mitsubishi has dismissed Gong Huayong, a Shanghai-based copper trader at one of its China units, after finding that he had made unauthorized trades with local companies, including some that were related to him.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2024
Mitsubishi loses $90 million in suspected China metal fraud
The company has dismissed a Shanghai-based copper trader after finding that he had made unauthorized trades with local companies.
A Tokyo couple allegedly used credit cards obtained fraudulently using other people's IDs to buy smartphones, luxury clothing and expensive liquor, according to the police.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 3, 2024
Tokyo couple held for fraud allegedly bought and resold 200 smartphones
Takaaki Saito, 32, and Chiharu Saito, 33, are accused of exploiting multiple stolen identities to obtain credit cards to make the purchases.
Mercari signage at the company's office in Tokyo in September 2020.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 25, 2024
Mercari to enhance item verification process to check frauds
The company has been criticized on social media for not responding appropriately to sellers' complaints that different items from what they sold were returned by buyers.
There have been confirmed cases across the country of fraudsters using credit card information stolen through phishing to obtain digital currencies managed by local governments.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 21, 2024
Japan's local digital currencies increasingly exploited by fraudsters
The fraudsters are believed to be targeting such currencies for the rewards that come with purchasing or making payments in the currencies.
Tomohiro Koyama (center), who was arrested for his suspected involvement in a fraud case, arrives at Narita Airport on Tuesday afternoon from Manila.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 20, 2024
Senior JP Dragon member linked to Luffy crime group arrested
Tomohiro Koyama was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department on board an aircraft while being deported from the Philippines.
Jun Kiyohara and three other Japanese men have been transferred from the Philippines to Japan and arrested Monday for allegedly being involved in a fraud case.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 19, 2024
Japanese police arrest four alleged fraudsters based in Cambodia
The men are believed to be members of a group based in Phnom Penh that engaged in scams classified as special fraud in Japan.
Suspects in a badger game scheme allegedly forced victims to pay money by threatening them, locking them up, assaulting them and pursuing them via consumer credit companies.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 14, 2024
Tokyo police arrest nine people over alleged badger scheme
The individuals were arrested on charges for extorting about ¥2 million in cash from four male customers in their 20s to 40s between April and July.
A Chinese foreign national was arrested Tuesday for allegedly swindling an elderly woman through a fake investment scam.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 13, 2024
Chinese national held over swindling of Ibaraki woman who lost ¥809 million
Wan Cheuklun allegedly conspired with others to impersonate economist Takuro Morinaga on LINE, offering false investment opportunities.
A text message sent by a scammer tells a recipient that a refund can be made only through an electronic money transfer.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 5, 2024
Police warn of refund scams involving smartphone payment apps
Scammers are exploiting smartphone payment apps, particularly PayPay, and fake online discount stores to commit fraud.
A team of lawyers head to the Osaka District Court on Tuesday to file a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, on behalf of their clients, who are victims of investment scams linked to fake advertisements on the social media platforms.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 29, 2024
Meta faces Japan lawsuits over fake ads linked to investment fraud
Those affected claim that the owner of Facebook and Instagram neglected to remove the ads from its social media platforms, which led to them being scammed.
The Consumer Affairs Agency is warning against fake websites that lure consumers into purchasing unrelated or counterfeit products.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 10, 2024
Consumer watchdog warns against fake electronics sites
The sites, often promoted via social media ads, are luring consumers into purchasing unrelated or counterfeit products.
Police in Osaka Prefecture arrested four people early last month for allegedly defrauding a "spot work" platform operator of about ¥680,000.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 6, 2024
Scammers in Japan take advantage of popularity of ‘spot work’
Police in Osaka Prefecture arrested four people early last month for allegedly defrauding a platform operator of about ¥680,000.
The National Police Agency has noted a major rise in online investment fraud cases, incidents of which have more than quadrupled in the first eight months of this year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 3, 2024
Investment and romance fraud cases triple in first eight months of year
A total of 6,868 reports of scam cases involving losses amounting to nearly ¥88 billion ($600 million) have been reported, the National Police Agency said.
A male employee of Gunma Bank in Fukaya, Saitama Prefecture, allegedly swindled clients out of a total of ¥55.35 million ($377,000) by falsely claiming to exchange their old banknotes for new ones.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 3, 2024
Gunma Bank dismisses employee over alleged ¥55 million scam
He allegedly took money from clients under the pretext of exchanging old banknotes for new ¥10,000 ones.
Counterfeit bills used by men who were arrested on suspicion of stealing cash under the guise of a gold transaction
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 9, 2024
Two Liberian men arrested for alleged fake gold deal in Tokyo
The two are charged with stealing ¥34 million from a 43-year-old secondhand goods dealer in Tokyo in November 2023.
Takaaki Saito enters the Metropolitan Police Department's Fukagawa Police Station in Koto Ward, Tokyo, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 4, 2024
Trio trying to pay off supercar debt arrested for alleged fraud
The trio is believed to have created a total of 34 credit cards in the names of nine people using personal information they obtained.
Philippine authorities discovered at least three scam farms run by Chinese, Indonesian and Myanmar nationals, according a spokesman or the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 1, 2024
Philippines arrests over 150 foreigners in online gambling raid
Agents found dozens of people engaged in illegal activities on makeshift workstations inside a resort on the central island of Cebu.
Former Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Megumi Hirose in the Upper House in April. She stepped down as lawmaker on Aug. 15.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 30, 2024
Ex-LDP lawmaker Hirose indicted over alleged pay fraud
She allegedly reported the wife of her public secretary as her second secretary although the wife did not perform any work in that capacity.
Since June, at least 10 gold bar scams, including failed attempts, have been confirmed in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Aichi and Shizuoka prefectures.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 26, 2024
Gold bullion scams targeting elderly people on the rise in Japan
Criminals posing as police officers on Line have been persuading people to convert money into gold and then leave it outside their homes.

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?