IBARAKI (TR) – Local authorities last week transferred twelve Japanese men believed to be members of a crime ring back to Japan, where they were accused of fraud.
The twelve men, aged between 18 and 45, are believed to be “callers,” who pose as police offers during calls to victims in Japan over the telephone in attempting to defraud them.
On August 2 and 7, local police took them into custody from a room in a building in the city of Bavet, located in southeastern Cambodia. Inside the building, notes and a dozen smartphones believed to have been used in the crimes were found.
This type of fraud is classified as tokushu sagi (“special fraud”), which is carried out on the telephone. Damage from such cases are on the rise, police said. For Tokyo alone, it is possible that the amount will exceed 10 billion yen for this year.
On October 7, several men walked through Narita International Airport while being accompanied by police officers. Takeshi Hasegawa, 43, a self-proclaimed plumber, Jun Yamana, 42, and Masaki Watanabe, 26, have all been accused of fraud. A similar scene unfolded at Haneda International Airport.
The men were then put into cars and taken to a police station in Ibaraki Prefecture, according to Nippon News Network (Oct. 8).
In August, they are suspected of conspiring to pose as a police officer and making false claims over the telephone to a woman in her 40s in Toyama Prefecture
“We want to investigate whether the money in your account has been used for crimes,” one caller said. “If we don’t investigate, your account may be frozen and you may not be able to use it.” Subsequently, they defrauded her of 1.6 million yen in cash.
“High-paying, easy jobs”
According to investigators, some suspects said that they had been deceived in Cambodia by offers of “high-paying, easy jobs” being available.” Investigators believe that the suspects were then forced into the criminal work. As a result, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for caution.
The method of defrauding cash by pretending to be a police officer is actually on the rise. According to Tokyo Metropolitan Police, there were three cases of such fraud in Tokyo last year. However, from January to the end of August this year, there have already been 228 cases.
Some of the methods include showing a fake “police ID” during a video call. In a fraud case that occurred in May, a 38-year-old man received a phone call from a man claiming to be a police officer. “An arrest warrant has been issued,” the fake officer said.
Then, an image of a “fake arrest warrant” was sent. The fake officer added, “You can prove your innocence by transferring money.” The fake arrest warrant also included the man’s address. Panicked, the man transferred cash multiple times, losing a total of 99 million yen.
On the rise
According to police, the amount of damage caused by tokushu sagi fraud cases in Tokyo this year from January to the end of August was about 7.05 billion yen. This is an increase of more than 1.8 billion yen compared to the same period last year. If the trend continues at this pace, the amount of damage will exceed 10 billion yen.
Tokyo police are asking that citizens take caution, saying that persons receiving telephone calls from anyone claiming to be a police officer should confirm the “affiliation, department, name, and extension number” of the caller. The nearest police station should also be contacted.
