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July 15, 2025
 

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FRAUD

Buildings inside the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone along the Mekong river in the Bokeo province of Laos on May 26.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 15, 2025
'Las Vegas in Laos': the riverside city awash with crime
With the initial aim of attracting tourists with casinos and resorts, the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone quickly became a center for money laundering and trafficking.
As crypto adoption grows and Bitcoin hits new highs, a surge in violent attacks, kidnappings and hacks targeting holders underscores the steep and often overlooked cost of being your own bank in a cashless world.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 11, 2025
Crypto crime is the future. Bank heists are history.
Banks are no longer easy or juicy targets for robbers, with heists down more than 80% since the 1990s as branches close and piles of cash hoarded in safes become a rarity.
A video by the National Police Agency warns about fake scams.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 8, 2025
Scams involving police impersonation surge
Victims lost over ¥30 billion to such fraud cases in the first five months of 2025.
Every year, an amount equivalent to roughly 15% of the world's economy flows through Visa's networks, and bad actors are constantly trying to siphon off some of that.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 7, 2025
Visa's 24/7 war room takes on global cybercriminals
The payments giant has invested $12 billion over the past five years building artificial intelligence-powered cyber fraud detection capabilities.
Donald Trump addresses the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in July last year.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2025
Cashing in on his comeback, Trump rescues frail finances
Contrary to the president’s assertions, records filed in a fraud case against him suggest that his riches were not the product of a steady and strong empire.
Tomonobu Kojima, admitted his involvement in the "Luffy" cases at the first hearing of his trial at Tokyo District Court on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 2, 2025
Senior member of 'Luffy' crime ring pleads guilty at hearing
Tomonobu Kojima, 47, said, "There is no mistake" regarding his charges of aiding robberies and committing fraud.
Police arrested two Nepalese men living in Tokyo for allegedly contacting a woman via social media pretending to be Shohei Ohtani and swindling money out of her.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 25, 2025
Nepalese men posing as Ohtani arrested over fraud charges
Two suspects, both living in Tokyo's Adachi Ward, are believed to have swindled ¥1 million from a woman in Tokyo in early to mid-November last year.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 25, 2025
Foreigners rescued from scam centers still stuck along Thai-Myanmar border
The Karen National Army, a rebel group, said it was currently housing 216 people, including citizens of Vietnam, China, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
The International Border Checkpoint of Poipet, Banteay Meanchey province, Cambodia
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 24, 2025
Thailand targets Cambodian scam centers amid border dispute
As part of the crackdown, Thailand will ban foreign tourists from crossing over to Cambodia and curb air travel to Siem Reap for gambling purposes, Paetongtarn said.
MUFG Bank said Monday that a former employee in his 60s has defrauded a customer out of ¥39.84 million by suggesting fictitious financial products and issuing forged deposit receipts.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2025
Ex-MUFG bank worker defrauds customer of ¥39.84 million
The Niigata District Public Prosecutors Office indicted the former worker at the major Japanese bank's Niigata branch.
Forged My Number cards and other ID cards seized by police are shown at a police station in Tokyo in December 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 20, 2025
Japan to require IC chip ID verification for online bank accounts in 2027
The new rule is designed to prevent fraudulent accounts from being opened under stolen identities.
Eight banks have entered into an agreement with the National Police Agency to share information on suspicious accounts as part of efforts to combat special fraud schemes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2025
Major banks team up with police to combat special fraud
Under a new agreement, the banks will send information on suspicious accounts directly to the police instead of channeling it through the Financial Services Agency.
Ippei Mizuhara, a former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, in February in California
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2025
Ohtani's ex-interpreter Mizuhara begins prison sentence
Mizuhara, 40, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison on charges of bank and tax fraud in a high-profile theft case.
Reports about fraudulent online rice shops to consumer affairs centers around the country spiked to 335 cases in April and May alone.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2025
Reports of online rice scams surging in Japan
Reports about fraudulent online rice shops to consumer affairs centers around the country spiked to 335 cases in April and May alone, as much as is normally seen in a year.
A growing number of consumers, particularly people in their 50s and older, are seeking advice on troubles involving social media.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2025
Social media user worries swell to record level in Japan
Consumers in Japan sought advice on social media-related problems in a record 86,396 cases in 2024, an annual government report showed Friday.
Kenji Nanba, a former manager of Nihon University’s weightlifting club, is believed to use his authority as manager to compel staff to give him rides.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 11, 2025
Ex-Nihon University weightlifting manager allegedly forced staff to give him rides
Kenji Nanba, 63, allegedly used his authority as manager to compel staff to give him rides to and from work.
Kenji Nanba (left), a former manager of Nihon University's weightlifting club, is transferred to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Shinagawa Station on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 10, 2025
Former manager of Nihon University weightlifting club arrested over fraud
The university believes the former manager began such scams around 20 years ago or earlier, receiving a total of ¥53.2 million.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department said that an undercover investigation helped identify a suspect in an attempted scam case in the greater Tokyo area.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 10, 2025
New police method reveals shady part-time job suspect
It was the first time for police to detect a suspect under the investigation method introduced in January.
Online brokerage accounts are being taken over through the use of malware, phishing and other techniques.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 9, 2025
Online brokerage account hijackings continue in Japan
In May, over 2,000 unauthorized transactions were logged by the Financial Services Agency.
A police car in Manila. Philippines authorities have detained the suspected leader of the "JP Dragon" crime ring based in the Southeast Asian country.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 6, 2025
Philippines detains leader of 'JP Dragon' crime ring
The criminal organization, which includes former Japanese gang members, allegedly worked with another Philippines-based fraud group led by a suspect known as "Luffy."
U.S. urges clarity on Japan’s role in potential war over Taiwan, report says
A Ground Self-Defense Force member conducts a military drill with an anti-ship missiles unit, at the GSDF's base on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2022.
Tourists in Japan have telemedicine options before calling 119
Foreign tourists at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. More than 1 million international visitors have a medical issue in Japan every year.
Tropical Storm Nari moves northward, with possible landfall Tuesday
Tropical Storm Nari's forecast path as of Monday morning
Nissan clinches $4.5 billion bond deal after orders soar
Nissan Motor has raised $4.5 billion through a junk bond sale in U.S. dollars and euros, part of which carries a record-high coupon rate.
Students in Japan struggle with Japanese language and math sections on national exam
The correct answer rate for the Japanese language section on a national test dropped to 67.0% from 67.8% the previous year among elementary school sixth-graders.
Music idol and anime fandom merch is big business
Businesses who cater to fandoms gathered at Tokyo Lifestyle Week for the second annual Oshikatsu — Merch Collection Expo, a trade show devoted to fandom goods.
U.S. urges clarity on Japan’s role in potential war over Taiwan, report says
A Ground Self-Defense Force member conducts a military drill with an anti-ship missiles unit, at the GSDF's base on Miyako Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2022.
Tourists in Japan have telemedicine options before calling 119
Foreign tourists at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. More than 1 million international visitors have a medical issue in Japan every year.
Is Japanese skin really ‘too smooth’ for Hideo Kojima’s games?
Hideo Kojima, the leading auteur in Japanese video games, has skirted controversy in the wake of the release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
An emoji used to say it all. Now it might say too much.
Apple’s Craig Federighi shows off a set of emoji at a conference on June 13, 2016. While the small pictures have proved helpful in conveying nuance in our texts, younger people are using them less often.

Podcast

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

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
By Megha Wadhwa

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