Remittance fraud, where con artists call people on the phone and fool them into transferring money through automatic teller machines, has become a hot topic. Despite warnings from police and banks, people still fall victim to such swindles.
On Monday, NHK looks at the criminal side of the story in the documentary special "Shokugyo Sagi" ("Occupation: Swindler") (NHK-G, 10 p.m.), which reveals that most of the perpetrators of such fraud are men in their 20s who have graduated from prestigious universities. Many, in fact, have worked for reputable companies. They consider swindling to be a job just like any other, and often actively "recruit" young men like them with the promise of high salaries. In interviews, they reveal that they don't care about their victims. "Japan is now all about winners and losers," one con man tells NHK. "And in such a society, fraud is the fastest way to become a winner."
Busting myths is always a popular pastime on TV shows, and it gets the full treatment on "Himitsu Kessha: Mayutsuba" (TBS, Tues., 7:56 p.m.). "Himitsu Kessha" means a "secret society" like the Freemasons. "Mayutsuba" literally means "spit on the eyebrow" and refers to an action that suggests skepticism.