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Tokyo: Fraud ring obtained Amazon gift cards from victims

Makoto Kawakami
Makoto Kawakami (Twitter)

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested five suspected members of a fraud ring that carried out a scam involving gift cards for online retailer Amazon.co.jp, reports TV Asahi (Feb. 20).

In October of last year, Makoto Kawakami, 20, and four other persons conspired to falsely tell a woman in Hokkaido Prefecture that she owed fees over the past use of a video site.

The suspects then coerced the woman to buy 1 million yen in Amazon.co.jp gift cards from a convenience store. After obtaining the identification numbers for the cards, the suspects were then able to make use of them.

Police have not revealed whether the suspects admit to the allegations.

According to police, the ring, which includes about 10 members, used similar scams to collect more than 100 million yen from victims since February of last year.

Police are now seeking the whereabouts of the other members of the ring.