Tag - fraud

 
 

FRAUD

A 28-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of deceiving a man she met on a dating app into paying her cash for sexually transmitted infection tests.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2024
Tokyo woman arrested on suspicion of STI test fraud
Police said Misaki Watanabe asked a man to pay for tests before engaging in sexual relations, but ceased all communication after receiving the money.
The amount of money stolen in fraud cases linked to social media in the first half of 2024 exceeded that of the whole 2023, the National Police Agency said.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2024
¥66 billion stolen in Japan via online scams in first half of 2024
Of the investment fraud cases reported, 51.6% involved advertisements on social media platforms.
Upper House lawmaker Megumi Hirose enters her house in Tokyo after it was raided on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 30, 2024
Tokyo prosecutors raid LDP lawmaker's home on suspicion of salary fraud
Megumi Hirose, 58, is suspected of providing one of her secretaries with a state-paid salary even though they reportedly did no real work.
Devices used in a scam center in Manila that has been shut down by police. Scam centers have mushroomed across Southeast Asia, with crime syndicates luring, kidnapping or coercing workers into predatory online activity and raking in billions of dollars.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 25, 2024
Raid on Philippine gambling hub unravels elaborate scheme implicating mayor
The scandal has fueled calls for a ban on the online gambling industry over its links to financial scams, kidnapping, prostitution, human trafficking, torture and murder.
A building in the city of Osaka where a syndicate suspected of conducting investment scams on social media operated from.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 24, 2024
90 arrested in Osaka over social media investment scam
Police raided four buildings in the city in the biggest bust of a syndicate involved in this kind of fraud in Japan.
Akira Saito (second from right), who took office as MSDF chief of staff, and his predecessor Adm. Ryo Sakai (right) attend a ceremony at the Defense Ministry on Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2024
More allowance frauds discovered at Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Forces
The amount of special allowances that divers of the Maritime Self-Defense Force fraudulently received exceeds ¥53 million, not ¥43 million as initially stated.
Nihon University headquarters in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2024
Official at Nihon University's weightlifting club defrauding members
The official pocketed money for nonexistent fees for 10 years, using most of it for private purposes.
The National Police Agency's National Cyber Unit has arrested a man who is believed to be the mastermind behind a group involved in fraudulent transfers exceeding ¥120 million.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 10, 2024
Japan's National Cyber Unit makes first arrest
The suspect, Yohei Yano, is believed to be the mastermind behind a group involved in fraudulent transfers exceeding ¥120 million.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara holds a news conference at the Ministry of Defense last month.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2024
MSDF divers suspected of fraudulently receiving allowances, sources say
They have been making false claims for the diving allowances for many years, and the total amount they have fraudulently received may reach tens of millions of yen.
The Consumer Affairs Agency is advising people to ignore unfamiliar payment requests over the phone, even if a major company is named.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 9, 2024
Beware of overseas number phone scams, Japan’s consumer watchdog warns
Scammers claiming to be telecommunications company NTT demanding “unpaid fees” have duped victims into making substantial payments amounting to millions of yen.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda (back center) watches as workers prepare to ship the first bundles of newly designed ¥10,000 bills at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 3, 2024
Tokyo police warn of fraud linked to new banknotes
Since March, four individuals in their 80s and 90s have been swindled out of a combined total of approximately ¥15 million, according to police reports.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura, speaking in the city of Osaka on Thursday, explains his plan to propose measures to protect people from fraud.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 28, 2024
Osaka governor eyes ban on mobile phone calls at ATMs
The proposal is part of an effort to protect elderly people from fraud.
Lower House lawmaker Masatoshi Akimoto (second from right) leaves the Tokyo Detention House in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 21, 2024
Japanese Lawmaker Akimoto released on bail amid bribery charges
The lawmaker was arrested on September 7 last year.
A fake online ad that solicits investments using the name and picture of economic analyst Takuro Morinaga without permission. Morinaga said he is not involved in the ad in any way and does not have social media accounts.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 19, 2024
Fake celebrity ad victims in Japan increase tenfold
Victims lost an average of ¥6.87 million, with the largest single loss hitting ¥170 million.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks at a government meeting on crime prevention at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2024
Japan's government demands stricter screenings of social media ads
Specifically, social media operators are being asked to draw up and disclose ad-screening criteria.
The number of consultations made by consumers regarding troubles on social media marked a record high in 2023, with people in their 50s or older particularly vulnerable.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2024
Japan sees social media linked consultations hit record in 2023
In 2023, there were 910,000 consultations, and consumer damage from problematic transactions amounted to a record ¥8.8 trillion.
Former lawmaker Tomohiro Konno has been arrested for allegedly lending his name as a lawyer to other people to do legal work in violation of the attorney law.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 13, 2024
Ex-Japan Lower House member Konno arrested over name-lending
Konno allegedly lent his name to have other people do legal work to recover special fraud damage for five victims, with virtually no cases of damage recovery.
The Fukuoka Prefectural Police building in the city of Fukuoka
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 12, 2024
Fukuoka police arrest man in connection with 'Luffy' crime ring
The suspect, Takayuki Kagoshima, 55, had been detained by Philippine immigration authorities since March.
Kazuki Suzuki, one of the suspects, was taken into police custody in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 11, 2024
'Side job' fraud believed to have taken ¥1.9 billion from 8,600 victims
The fraud group ran multiple "side job" websites while recruiting members through social media and paying them an average of about ¥500,000 as monthly wages.
Yuichi Nishimura is taken into police custody in Tokyo on Wednesday on suspicion of attempted fraud.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 6, 2024
Hokkaido man arrested for defrauding ‘fiancee’ with fake kidnapping scheme
The suspect, Yuichi Nishimura, allegedly enticed the victim with promises of marriage while concealing the fact that he was already married.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?