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November 07, 2025
 

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FRAUD

The Osaka District Court sentenced a 25-year-old man to four years and six months in prison for swindling ¥1.45 billion in a real estate scam.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2025
Osaka real estate scammer given 54-month prison sentence
Judge Akira Kuranari ruled that the defendant, Ryohei Kume, took part in "a malicious crime with sophisticated tricks" by posing as a landowner.
Tokyo police have arrested seven people suspected of being involved in at least 500 fraud cases in Tokyo and three prefectures between February 2023 and this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2025
Tokyo police arrest fraud group head, 6 others
The seven men are believed to be linked to at least 500 fraud cases in Tokyo and three prefectures since February 2023.
A rapid adoption of solar panels by homeowners in Japan has created new targets for aggressive sales tactics and outright scams.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2025
Consumer watchdog warns of solar panel inspection scams
The number of homes equipped with solar panels has skyrocketed in recent years, creating new targets for aggressive sales tactics.
People from various countries who were working in the KK Park compound in Myanmar and crossed into Thailand via the Moei river, board a vehicle on Oct. 24 as Thai soldiers keep watch.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 5, 2025
Myanmar scam hub sweep triggers fraudster recruitment rush
Online scam hubs have mushroomed across Southeast Asia, draining victims of billions of dollars annually in elaborate romance and crypto cons.
Buildings said to be a scam hub in southeast Myanmar as seen from across the border, in Tak, Thailand, on Feb. 21. Cybercrime hubs in Myanmar, Cambodia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia are part of a sprawling criminal enterprise that has stolen tens of billions of dollars from victims worldwide.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 3, 2025
How an accused kingpin built an empire from Cambodia to London
Chen Zhi had cultivated for himself an image of legitimacy. That's now unraveling, after the U.S. and U.K. accused him of running a transnational criminal ring.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said India has sought Thailand's cooperation in the repatriation of some 500 Indian nationals who fled a Myanmar scam center.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 29, 2025
India to repatriate 500 nationals who fled Myanmar scam center: Thai PM
More than 1,500 people from 28 countries have crossed the border into Thailand following a military raid.
A Thai soldier keeps watch over people who crossed over from Myanmar, as they wait to be screened and interrogated by officials on Oct. 23.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 28, 2025
Myanmar detains over 10,000 foreigners in scam center crackdown
The move comes as the international community pressures the junta to dismantle billion-dollar scam networks.
Construction at the KK Park complex in Myanmar's eastern Myawaddy township on Sept. 17, seen from across the Thai border
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 23, 2025
Hundreds flee to Thailand after latest raid on Myanmar scam center
A recent investigation revealed construction at several compounds, while Starlink receivers had been installed apparently connecting the hubs to the satellite internet network.
A recent cyberattack on brewer Asahi Group Holdings resulted in the company suspending shipments.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 22, 2025
AI-optimized cybercrime increasingly targeting Japan
Many of the attacks originate in China, using underground marketplaces that sell access and sensitive data to other cybercriminals.
Brian Kim (center), founder of Kakao Corp., leaves the Southern District Court in Seoul on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025
Billionaire Kakao founder cleared in stock manipulation case
The acquittal allows Kakao to refocus on stabilizing its sprawling businesses, which ranges from messaging and fintech to mobility and entertainment.
The KK Park complex in Myanmar's eastern Myawaddy township, as pictured from Mae Sot district in Thailand's border province of Tak on Sept. 17.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 20, 2025
Myanmar junta says it raided scam compound and seized 30 Starlink receivers
Internet sweat shops where workers scam unsuspecting foreigners with business or romance schemes have thrived in war-ravaged Myanmar's lawless border regions.
Police officers escort repatriated South Koreans, who were detained by authorities in Cambodia over alleged cyberscam operations, upon their arrival at Incheon international airport, west of Seoul, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 18, 2025
64 South Koreans held in Cambodia return home under arrest
South Korea had sent a team to Cambodia on Wednesday to discuss cases of fake jobs and scam centers involved in kidnapping dozens of its nationals.
Suspect Qian Ling (center), who is believed to be the group's leader, following his re-arrest, in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 17, 2025
Tokyo police arrest phone scam group leader
The Metropolitan Police Department suspects that the group was behind at least some 500 phone scam cases committed in half a year through January.
The Aichi Prefectural Police headquarters in Nagoya
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 17, 2025
Seven key members of major bank account brokerage ring arrested
The organization is believed to be one of the biggest of its kind in Japan, handling over 1,000 accounts annually for the purpose of money laundering
Motorists ride past the Prince International Plaza in Phnom Penh on Wednesday. U.S. authorities on Tuesday unsealed an indictment against Chen Zhi, a British-Cambodian businessperson who owns Prince Group and who is accused of running forced labor camps in Cambodia.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 16, 2025
U.S. and U.K. sanctions target Cambodia's Prince Group and tycoon Chen Zhi
Prince Holding Group, one of Cambodia's largest conglomerates, was a front for "one of Asia's largest transnational criminal organizations," the U.S. Department of Justice said.
South Korea will send a special team to Cambodia to discuss cases of fake jobs and scam centers involved in kidnapping dozens of its nationals.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 15, 2025
Seoul sends team to Cambodia over scam center kidnappings
The team, headed by the vice foreign minister, will depart Wednesday evening, according to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Ferries cross the Mekong River in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Oct. 8. U.S. prosecutors have charged Chen Zhi, the chairman of Phnom Penh-based Prince Group, with engaging in a wire-fraud conspiracy and operating a money-laundering scheme.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 15, 2025
U.S. seizes $15B in bitcoin and charges Cambodian mogul with cyberfraud
Prince Group Chairman Chen Zhi, who was born in China but emigrated to Cambodia, is not in custody and remains at large.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday the recent kidnappings in Cambodia were causing "significant harm to South Koreans," and urged immediate government action.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 14, 2025
80 South Koreans missing in Cambodia scam center row, Seoul says
Between January and August this year, 330 South Koreans were reported to have gone missing or been held against their will after entering Cambodia.
Alleged victims of Myanmar's scam centers in the process of repatriation on Feb. 12. Fraud factories in Myanmar blamed for scamming Chinese and American victims out of billions of dollars are still in business and bigger than ever.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 14, 2025
Myanmar scam cities booming despite crackdown — using Musk's Starlink
China, Thailand and Myanmar had pressured militias into vowing to "eradicate" the compounds in February, releasing around 7,000 people from a brutal call center-like system.
A banner of U.S. President Donald Trump on the Department of Labor in Washington, on Thursday
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Oct 6, 2025
Fake job scams cost U.S. job seekers $12 billion as labor market tightens
Employment-related scam cases rose by over 1,000% from May through July, when new graduates typically search for jobs, according to McAfee.
The Toyota buyout is a major test for Japan’s reforms
Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor, speaks during a media preview at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo on Oct. 29. Minority investors are challenging the carmaker's bid to take affiliate Toyota Industries Corp. private.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
ChatGPT nickname and Trump tariffs nominated for Japan’s buzzword of 2025
Women hold toys depicting Myaku-Myaku, the official character for the 2025 Osaka Expo, during a media day ahead of the event's public opening day in Osaka in April.
SoftBank is said to have explored potential takeover of Marvell
SoftBank explored a potential takeover of U.S. chipmaker Marvell Technology earlier this year, in what would have been the semiconductor industry's largest-ever deal.
The second life of Japan's net cafes
Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
Across borders and screens, Tokyo film festival finds humanity in migration
“Mother Bhumi” takes place in a multiethnic rice-farming community where Chinese, Thai and Malay lineages intertwine.
Takaichi’s balancing act: Supporting Taiwan and stabilizing China ties
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shakes hands with Lin Hsin-i, Taiwan’s presidential adviser, on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Saturday in this image posted to Takaichi's official X account.
From 1973 to 2025: A Japanese American skater’s long ride to recognition
Judi Oyama at Winchester Skatepark in San Jose, California, in January 1979. The Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee and Guinness World Record holder still skates and hopes to inspire older women.
More Japanese universities pushing toward teaching in English
Waseda University in Tokyo
Young Indonesians in Japan find their political voice
Indonesian students at Hiroshima University hold posters of the 17+8 Demands, demanding transparency and action from their homeland’s government.

Podcast

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

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes
By Alex K.T. Martin

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