Japanese police plan to launch a new unit based in the Tokyo area next spring to investigate the rising number of scams nationwide that often target the elderly, officials said Saturday. The new team will include police officers from across the country.
The envisioned unit is expected to have more members and a larger role than an existing team that was established in 2005 to tackle so-called special fraud cases, including one commonly known as the “ore-ore” (“it’s me”) scam, in which perpetrators swindle elderly people by impersonating their children and asking for urgent money transfers over the phone.
The existing team's role has been limited to the initial stages of police investigations, such as checking security camera footage near ATMs. But the new organization will be in charge of most of the investigatory process, including establishing which criminal groups are involved.