Press "Enter" to skip to content

Tokyo cops: Teen fraud ring netted ¥86 million

Two boys, aged 19 and 17
Two boys, aged 19 and 17, are alleged to have swindled an elderly woman in Aichi Prefecture out of 5 million yen by posing as her son

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Tuesday announced the bust a fraud ring composed of primarily teenagers that is suspected of swindling multiple elderly persons out of nearly 100 million yen by posing as their relatives, reports TBS News (June 6).

On Tuesday, two boys, a 19-year-old living in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture and a 17-year-old from Kawasaki City, Chiba Prefecture, were sent to prosecutors for allegedly defrauding an 84-year-old woman living in Aichi Prefecture out of 5 million yen in January of last year.

In carrying out the fraud, one of the suspects pretended to be the victim’s son on the telephone in falsely claiming that he needed money to cover the loss of some documents from his company. The boys were paid a total of 120,000 by the ring as a commission for collecting the money. “I wanted money,” the 17-year-old suspect said, according to the Koganei Police Station.

According to police, a total of eight boys, aged between 15 and 19, and one man, 20, are suspected of using similar means to defraud 11 persons living in Tokyo and four prefectures, including Gifu and Iwate, out of a total of 86 million yen.