OSAKA (TR) – Osaka Prefectural Police announced on Wednesday the arrest of 41 men and women accused of swindling cash from victims through a bogus online school that promised to teach them how to generate massive wealth on social media, reports TV Asahi (June 10).
According to police, the suspects are believed to have defrauded approximately 2,300 people nationwide of a total of about 650 million yen.
Among those taken into custody on suspicion of fraud are Shingo Matsumura and Raito Fujiki, both 29-year-old representatives of Unity Co., Ltd., a corporate entity headquartered in Osaka City’s Kita Ward, according to police
The massive syndicate is accused of impersonating fictional, highly successful influencers between November 2025 and March 2026. Claiming to make lucrative side incomes by boosting social media follower counts, the suspects allegedly targeted three women in their 30s to 50s living in Osaka Prefecture.
Police have withheld whether the suspects have admitted to the allegations.
Investigators say the group lured the victims with false promises, telling them, “If you take our course, you can generate a huge income.” They then allegedly defrauded the women out of amounts ranging from 150,000 to 510,000 yen under the guise of tuition fees.
According to the police, the SNS accounts used were originally those of influencers with a large following who posted about cooking and beauty. The suspects’ group purchased and managed these accounts through an intermediary.
The victims believed that the original account owners, the influencers, were continuing to post, and were intrigued by the idea that they were earning income through advertising on SNS, so they paid the course fees via credit card.
The group reportedly divided roles, such as posting on the SNS accounts, creating “bait-and-switch” advertisements, adding comments, and answering victims’ questions via message.
While the company was officially registered in Kita Ward, the group’s actual base of operations was hidden inside a single room of a commercial building in Suita City.
On Tuesday, police executed search warrants at multiple locations across the prefecture, including the Suita hideout. Investigators hauled away more than 1,000 pieces of evidence, including massive stockpiles of smartphones and computers used to carry out the scheme.
