TOKYO (TR) – A man in his 40s residing in Kita Ward has been swindled out of roughly 180 million yen in cryptocurrency after being psychologically cornered by scammers posing as police officers, reports Nippon News Network (May 26).
According to Tokyo Metropolitan Police, the ordeal began in January when the victim received a phone call from individuals claiming to be investigators from a police “Cyber Division.” The callers warned the man that his bank account had been implicated in criminal activity.
“Unless you can pay bail, you may be arrested,” the fake officers threatened.
Instructing the man to pay his bail in cryptocurrency, the perpetrators guided him to download a messaging app. To cement the elaborate deception, the scammers sent forged legal documents, including a “judge’s letter of consent” and official-looking confirmation forms.
“Under strict surveillance”
In a chilling escalation of the scam, the perpetrators used the app’s meeting function to keep an open audio line with the victim almost constantly from January until this month.
“I felt like I was being kept under strict surveillance because they were listening to my voice the entire time, so I paid,” the terrified victim told police.
While effectively held captive over the phone, the man was instructed to open a cryptocurrency exchange account. He subsequently made more than 20 transfers to the scammers, sending crypto assets totaling 180 million yen.
Tokyo police are currently investigating the case and suspects for involvement in a tokuryu ring, whose disposable operatives are recruited via social media to execute specialized scams and robberies.
Scams surging across Japan
According to the National Police Agency (NPA), “fake police officer” scams are surging across Japan. Last year alone, authorities recognized over 10,000 such cases nationwide, resulting in a staggering 100 billion yen in financial losses.
With cryptocurrency-transfer scams also on the rise since last year, the NPA has issued a stark warning to the public: “The police will never contact individuals personally via messaging apps, nor will they ever demand payment.”
