GIFU (TR) – Police here are investigating a massive fraud case after an elderly man was swindled out of gold bullion valued at nearly 200 million yen by suspects posing as law enforcement, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Apr. 30).
The elaborately staged scam began in February, according to the Ogaki Police Station. The victim, an Ogaki City resident in his 80s, received a call on his landline from individuals claiming to be a police detective and a public prosecutor. The scammers warned the man that the personal data on his My Number identification card had been leaked.
To make the ruse convincing, the suspects emailed the victim a forged image of a My Number card bearing his name. The scammers then took the step of mailing a smartphone directly to his residence to issue further, secure instructions.
Following the orders received on the provided device, the elderly man withdrew his gold bullion from a safe deposit box at a financial institution and brought it back to his home.
In March, he was instructed to pack the 7.5 kilograms of gold — valued at around 190 million yen — into a backpack and leave it outside his front door. When he later checked, the bag had been taken.
The massive heist went unreported for weeks. It wasn’t until the victim consulted with a relative on April 30 that he realized he had been duped.
Police announced the incident the same day. The case is being treated as tokushu sagi (specialized fraud) whereby perpetrators pose as members of law enforcement or other persons of authority to scam victims.
