Subway posters, newspaper ads, TV commercials and automatic teller machines nationwide bear warnings against "furikome sagi" — remittance fraud — a scourge that bilks the vulnerable out of billions of yen every year.
Con artists usually target their victims via cell phones, duping them into going to nearby ATMs or post offices to transfer funds into accounts that are quickly terminated.
Last year alone, the National Police Agency said victims were swindled out of ¥2.75 billion via remittance frauds, closing in on the record high ¥2.83 billion marked in 2004 and raising concerns about whether this widespread menace can be stopped. Police recorded 20,481 cases of "furikome" fraud in 2008, up from 17,930 in 2007.