'Fake police' fraud cases surging in Japan
The amount of money swindled in such fake police fraud cases totaled ¥38.93 billion ($258 million) between January and June, according to the data released by the National Police Agency on Thursday. The NPA is working with police departments across the country to alert people for this type of fraud.
The number of special fraud cases recognized by Japanese police in the first half of this year totaled a record high of 13,213, up about 50% from a year before, with the amount of damage shooting up by 2.6 times to ¥59.73 billion, also a record high.
The agency believes that the surge reflects a sharp rise in fake police cases. The number of recognized cases involving fake police officers stood at 4,737, accounting for 36% of the overall special fraud cases, and the sum of money swindled in such cases made up 65%.
In many fake police cases, targeted individuals first receive calls on their mobile phones. Offenders, posing as police officers, then show them fake arrest warrants via video calls on social media and instruct them to transfer money to designated bank accounts, saying, "We need to confirm whether your money is connected to crimes."
Young people tend to fall victim to such fraud, with those in their 30s accounting for 20.5% of the total fake police cases in the January-June period and those in their 20s accounting for 18.7%, according to the statistics.
The Osaka Prefectural Police's official website (left) and a fake website used in a fraud case involving offenders pretending to be Osaka police officers |
The National Police Agency / via Jiji
There has been an increase in cases in which automated voice calls are made from abroad to a large number of people.
The NPA data also showed that the amount of money swindled in social media-based investment and romance fraud cases totaled ¥59.08 billion between January and June, down 10.7% year on year.
Investment fraud cases fell 30.4% to ¥35.12 billion due to a sharp decrease in ads using the names of celebrities, while romance fraud cases soared 52.4% to ¥23.96 billion.
In about half of romance fraud cases, offenders use matching apps to contact their targets. In many cases, fraudsters propose joint investment in crypto-assets or online shop management, according to the NPA.
The agency also said that the number of criminal offenses recognized by police around the country in the January-June period increased 4.6% from a year before to 365,963, up for the third straight year.
The first-half figure exceeded the level in the same period in 2019, before the COVID-19 crisis.
Of the total, theft and fraud cases increased sharply, by 6,776 and 5,263, respectively.
The number of serious crimes, such as murder, was up 3.6% at 7,031.
Police took action against 141,195 cases, or 38.6% of the total, with the proportion rising 0.5 percentage point from a year earlier.
Action was taken in 7,710 cases involving foreigners, up 41.5% year on year and the highest figure in the past 10 years.
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