TOCHIGI (TR) – Police are hunting for two men who impersonated plainclothes officers to scam a cyclist out of cash on Monday.
The con exploited a newly implemented traffic penalty system, reports TV Asahi (Apr. 14).
The incident unfolded on a prefectural road in Oyama City when a man riding his bicycle across a pedestrian crosswalk was suddenly intercepted by a vehicle. Two men stepped out and immediately confronted him.
“Got a minute? That’s a red light violation,” one of the men declared.
Identifying himself as “Yamanishi from the Oyama Police Station Traffic Division,” the suspect pressured the cyclist. Both perpetrators appeared to be in their 40s, wore plain clothes, and failed to produce police badges.
“The fine is 15,000 yen. Can you pay it now?” the bogus cop demanded, handing the victim a convincing replica of a blue traffic ticket. When the cyclist hesitated, the man escalated the threat: “If you don’t pay now, you’ll be arrested.”
Capitalizing on the genuine “blue ticket system” for bicycle violations that just went into effect this month, the scammers successfully intimidated the victim into handing over 15,000 yen on the spot.
Despite paying the fine, the victim remained unconvinced he had actually run a red light. Shortly after the encounter, he flagged down a passing patrol car to contest the penalty — only for real officers to inform him he had been swindled in a “fake blue ticket” scam.
Tochigi Prefectural Police are now tracking the fleeing suspects and have issued a public warning to prevent further extortion.
“We do not directly collect blue ticket fines in cash on the spot,” a police representative clarified.
Another case
The case is not the first since the system began earlier this month.
On April 4, a man in Hiroshima Prefecture posing an authority figure swindled a teenage boy out of 2,000 yen using a similar scam.
