YAMAGATA (TR) – A man living in the prefecture fell victim to a social media romance scam and was defrauded of approximately 130 million yen in cryptocurrency and cash, police said.
According to police, in August of this year, the victim started chatting with a person claiming to be a woman on Instagram. As they continued to communicate on chat app Line, he began to develop feelings for her.
The person, who claimed to be half-Japanese and half-Taiwanese, then approached him about cryptocurrencies. She said, “70 percent of people make money by finding a side job and are good at managing their assets.”
The person also posted photos of a woman in swimwear lounging by a pool. She went on, “Your virtual currency savings will earn 0.8 percent interest every day.”
After opening a cryptocurrency account, the man transferred approximately 130 million yen on over 20 occasions to specified accounts. He also transferred cash to an account under the pretext of taxes, transfer fees and other charges.
Highest amount ever
Police consider the case to be a tokushu sagi, meaning specialized fraud. Perpetrators of this crime target a victim over the telephone and impersonate an authority figure or relative to defraud money from them.
The loss of approximately 130 million yen is the highest amount ever recorded in the prefecture for a specialized fraud case and a social media romance scam.
Due to the large amount of money involved, a financial institution provided information on the case to the police. Investigators then interviewed the victim and discovered the extent of his losses.
Romance scams
The perpetrator communicated with the victim almost daily for three months, from mid-August to mid-November. During the communication, she sent links to scam websites.
As of the end of last month, the total amount of losses from social media romance scams confirmed in the prefecture this year totaled approximately 490 million yen.
Police are urging people to suspect fraud if someone they have never met asks them for money.
