Tag - fraud

 
Menu
Search
 
June 05, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

FRAUD

Takanori Nishiyama, Japan manager of Keeper Security. Password managers can help thwart phishing attacks.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
May 30, 2025
Online brokerage account hijacks in Japan highlight need for login vigilance
Portfolios are being commandeered to manipulate the market for the benefit of the hacker.
The cover-up is believed to have started in 2004 or even earlier, according to the government's Tohoku Local Finance Bureau and the Financial Services Agency.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2025
Japan lender receives business improvement order following cover-up
Former executives of the cooperative concealed fraudulent corporate loans, including through the accounts of depositors opened without their consent.
Authorities in northwestern Cambodia have detained around 50 foreign nationals, including more than 20 Japanese, in a raid targeting online gambling and fraud operations in Poipet.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 29, 2025
Over 20 Japanese reportedly detained in Cambodia in online scam raid
Cambodian investigative authorities conducted a search following a tip-off alleging the presence of Japanese nationals involved in fraud.
According to the Aichi prefectural police, the suspect is a high school student in the prefectural capital of Nagoya who returned to Japan after being taken into custody by Thai authorities.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 24, 2025
Aichi police arrest Nagoya teen for involvement in Myanmar fraud ring
The boy allegedly conspired with other suspects to defraud a man from Mie Prefecture who was on a business trip to the U.S. state of Oregon.
Questionable websites appear to be taking advantage of consumers looking for cheaper rice online amid the high prices of the staple grain in the nation.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 21, 2025
Beware of dubious websites offering cheap rice, consumer watchdog warns
The Consumer Affairs Agency urges consumers to verify the legitimacy of websites offering rice at unusually low prices before making any purchase.
Although Japan's rate of cashless transactions remains relatively low compared with those of other countries, the share of such payments in personal consumption has surpassed 40% for the first time.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
May 21, 2025
Cashless payments top 40% of consumer spending in Japan
The country's cashless payment penetration remains low globally, with the risk of fraud and service interruptions due to natural disasters presenting hurdles to growth.
Okasan Securities and Iwai Cosmo Securities said they had been hit by fraudulent trading, indicating the hacking of online trading accounts is expanding to mid-sized brokerages.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2025
Hacking of trading accounts in Japan spreads to midsized firms
The hacking of online trading accounts has exploded in Japan, surging more than 10-fold in April from March.
Tokyo police arrested five people on suspicion of buying some 2,800 boxes of heated tobacco products, worth about ¥1.64 million, at a convenience store using the Apple Pay iD contactless payment service over 167 times from Nov. 8 to 10 last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 15, 2025
Five arrested for alleged credit card fraud over tobacco purchases
Offline payment, whose inappropriate use is unstoppable when smartphone signals are cut, was used for the crime.
Deceptive contractors prey on elderly homeowners and pressure them into signing contracts by making claims such as, "If you leave it unchanged, your house will tilt."
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
May 8, 2025
Japan struggles to crack down on home renovation scams
A senior police official said the rise in fraudulent renovation work is largely due to a legal loophole over small-scale construction work.
Staff members from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Community Guidance Division call for cooperation with officers conducting door to door visits, on April 15 in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. Officers make a point of clearly identifying themselves and their assigned police box during each visit.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 6, 2025
Tokyo police promote home-visit program amid growing security challenges
Some residents, wary of scam artists pretending to be police officers, refuse to engage at all when one visits their home.
Tetsuya Yamaguchi at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on April 8
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 30, 2025
How a Japanese fraud group ran scams from Southeast Asia
Police suspect that Tetsuya Yamaguchi, who was arrested on April 8 after being deported from Thailand, was involved in fraud totaling at least ¥3 billion ($21.1 million).
Trafficking experts have raised concerns over how satellite internet technology may hamper efforts to crack down on scam centers in Asia.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2025
Portable internet helps Asia scam centers bypass blackouts
Trafficking experts have raised concerns over how satellite internet technology may hamper efforts to crack down on scam centers.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura says he hopes the prefecture's new rule prohibiting older people from using ATMs while talking on phones becomes widely known and eventually accepted as common sense.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Apr 24, 2025
Osaka to ban older people from using ATMs while on the phone to help stop scams
While the ban does not include penalties, the Osaka prefectural government hopes to build public consensus to help prevent scams.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a government meeting on crime prevention measures at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 22, 2025
In fight against fraud, Japan seeks new weapon: undercover bank accounts
The government is looking to allow the police to set up bank accounts under false names to track the movement of funds obtained by fraudsters.
Tokyo police have arrested three individuals, including 37-year-old Takuya Higuchi, a member of a money laundering group, on suspicion of fraud.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 22, 2025
Tokyo police arrest three believed to have been laundering money for 'Luffy'
One of the three arrested is Takuya Higuchi, 37, a resident of Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, whose occupation is unknown.
Multinational victims of scam centers, who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar, stand on a vessel floating towards the Thai side of border via Moei River in Phop Phra District, Tak province, Thailand, on Feb. 12.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Apr 21, 2025
'Cancer' of billion-dollar cyberscam industry spreading globally: U.N.
Even as Southeast Asian governments have intensified a crackdown, syndicates have moved within and beyond the region.
The proposal reportedly calls for a legal framework that would obligate telecom operators to store communication records for a fixed period.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2025
LDP proposal would require telecom companies to store usage records
The proposal calls for a legal framework that would obligate telecom operators to store metadata and usage records for a fixed period.
A damages lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Fukuoka District Court, names four defendants including the group’s boss, 83-year-old Kenichi Shinoda and his second-in-command, 77-year-old Kiyoshi Takayama.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 16, 2025
Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza boss sued over fraud scheme in Fukuoka
The lawsuit names four defendants including the group’s boss, 83-year-old Kenichi Shinoda, better known as Shinobu Tsukasa.
A former Prudential Life Insurance employee was arrested in June last year on suspicion of fraud.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 11, 2025
Prudential Life ordered to report preventative measures after three arrests
Between June last year and February this year, three former employees were arrested over acts of misconduct that included defrauding customers.
A working group of the Japan Securities Dealers Association is discussing a revision to the current set of recommendations in order to prevent fraud in online transactions.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 11, 2025
Japan brokerage body weighs tougher moves to fight phishing scams
The move underlines the spreading concern around the sharp rise in unauthorized trades at some of Japan’s largest brokerages.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic
After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
Toyota Industries receives $33 billion buyout offer from group companies
Toyota group companies could establish a new holding company to privatize Toyota Industries.
Japan’s fertility rate hits record low despite government push
The total number of births dropped to about 686,000, marking the first time the figure has fallen below 700,000, according to a health ministry release on Wednesday.
South Korea’s Lee pledges to heal deep wounds as ‘president for everyone’
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung waves with his his wife, Kim Hye-gyeong, following his inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul on Wednesday.
Hakuho’s departure highlights worrying sumo trend
Former <i>yokozuna</i> Hakuho performs a ring-entering ceremony at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in February 2020.
Hakuho’s departure highlights worrying sumo trend
Former <i>yokozuna</i> Hakuho performs a ring-entering ceremony at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in February 2020.
Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima dies at 89
Shigeo Nagashima (left), then the manager of the Tokyo Giants, waves to fans with players and coaches during a victory parade in central Tokyo in 2000. Nagashima died at the age of 89 on Tuesday.
‘A garden is a grand teacher’: The Kamakura Gardener nurtures via YouTube
American Robert Jefferson runs a YouTube channel called The Kamakura Gardener that invites viewers to enjoy the pleasures of gardening, cooking and slow living.
Waves of umami: Awaji Island's culinary trove
Silversea Cruises' culinary program takes guests on a rich gourmet experience at wellness retreat Zenbo Seinei, where the local produce is presented in an eight-course meal.
Hegseth to prioritize China and more allied spending in Asia — but questions remain
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives for a trilateral meeting between Japan, the U.S. and Australia at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027
Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER