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September 19, 2025
 

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FRAUD

Former Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Megumi Hirose in the Upper House in April. She stepped down as lawmaker on Aug. 15.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 30, 2024
Ex-LDP lawmaker Hirose indicted over alleged pay fraud
She allegedly reported the wife of her public secretary as her second secretary although the wife did not perform any work in that capacity.
Since June, at least 10 gold bar scams, including failed attempts, have been confirmed in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Aichi and Shizuoka prefectures.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 26, 2024
Gold bullion scams targeting elderly people on the rise in Japan
Criminals posing as police officers on Line have been persuading people to convert money into gold and then leave it outside their homes.
Kyoto police say there have been scams targeting gold bars in recent months.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 21, 2024
Kyoto man scammed out of ¥100 million in gold bars
The self-employed man, residing in Kyoto's Kamigyo Ward, received a call in late June from a man claiming to be from a mobile phone company.
The Metropolitan Police Department holds a workshop on dealing with cybercrimes in February.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 20, 2024
Tokyo police expand team for initial cybercrime investigations
The team will focus on investigations pertaining to online fraud, distribution of indecent images of children and drug trafficking.
Popular commentator and journalist Akira Ikegami speaks about investment fraud on social media at the Aichi Prefectural Police in Nagoya in July.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 14, 2024
Japanese celebrities raising alarm over social media fraud
The amount of money stolen in social media investment fraud schemes between January-June rocketed about seven times from a year earlier, according to police.
What is known as real money trading in online games is rife with issues, including account hijacking and fraud.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 8, 2024
Man arrested over alleged fraud involving Sega's in-game money
The suspect allegedly collected money by offering to sell the in-game currency at one-twentieth of the listed price on "real money trading" websites.
A 28-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of deceiving a man she met on a dating app into paying her cash for sexually transmitted infection tests.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2024
Tokyo woman arrested on suspicion of STI test fraud
Police said Misaki Watanabe asked a man to pay for tests before engaging in sexual relations, but ceased all communication after receiving the money.
The amount of money stolen in fraud cases linked to social media in the first half of 2024 exceeded that of the whole 2023, the National Police Agency said.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2024
¥66 billion stolen in Japan via online scams in first half of 2024
Of the investment fraud cases reported, 51.6% involved advertisements on social media platforms.
Upper House lawmaker Megumi Hirose enters her house in Tokyo after it was raided on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 30, 2024
Tokyo prosecutors raid LDP lawmaker's home on suspicion of salary fraud
Megumi Hirose, 58, is suspected of providing one of her secretaries with a state-paid salary even though they reportedly did no real work.
Devices used in a scam center in Manila that has been shut down by police. Scam centers have mushroomed across Southeast Asia, with crime syndicates luring, kidnapping or coercing workers into predatory online activity and raking in billions of dollars.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 25, 2024
Raid on Philippine gambling hub unravels elaborate scheme implicating mayor
The scandal has fueled calls for a ban on the online gambling industry over its links to financial scams, kidnapping, prostitution, human trafficking, torture and murder.
A building in the city of Osaka where a syndicate suspected of conducting investment scams on social media operated from.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 24, 2024
90 arrested in Osaka over social media investment scam
Police raided four buildings in the city in the biggest bust of a syndicate involved in this kind of fraud in Japan.
Akira Saito (second from right), who took office as MSDF chief of staff, and his predecessor Adm. Ryo Sakai (right) attend a ceremony at the Defense Ministry on Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2024
More allowance frauds discovered at Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Forces
The amount of special allowances that divers of the Maritime Self-Defense Force fraudulently received exceeds ¥53 million, not ¥43 million as initially stated.
Nihon University headquarters in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2024
Official at Nihon University's weightlifting club defrauding members
The official pocketed money for nonexistent fees for 10 years, using most of it for private purposes.
The National Police Agency's National Cyber Unit has arrested a man who is believed to be the mastermind behind a group involved in fraudulent transfers exceeding ¥120 million.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 10, 2024
Japan's National Cyber Unit makes first arrest
The suspect, Yohei Yano, is believed to be the mastermind behind a group involved in fraudulent transfers exceeding ¥120 million.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara holds a news conference at the Ministry of Defense last month.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2024
MSDF divers suspected of fraudulently receiving allowances, sources say
They have been making false claims for the diving allowances for many years, and the total amount they have fraudulently received may reach tens of millions of yen.
The Consumer Affairs Agency is advising people to ignore unfamiliar payment requests over the phone, even if a major company is named.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 9, 2024
Beware of overseas number phone scams, Japan’s consumer watchdog warns
Scammers claiming to be telecommunications company NTT demanding “unpaid fees” have duped victims into making substantial payments amounting to millions of yen.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda (back center) watches as workers prepare to ship the first bundles of newly designed ¥10,000 bills at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 3, 2024
Tokyo police warn of fraud linked to new banknotes
Since March, four individuals in their 80s and 90s have been swindled out of a combined total of approximately ¥15 million, according to police reports.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura, speaking in the city of Osaka on Thursday, explains his plan to propose measures to protect people from fraud.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 28, 2024
Osaka governor eyes ban on mobile phone calls at ATMs
The proposal is part of an effort to protect elderly people from fraud.
Lower House lawmaker Masatoshi Akimoto (second from right) leaves the Tokyo Detention House in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 21, 2024
Japanese Lawmaker Akimoto released on bail amid bribery charges
The lawmaker was arrested on September 7 last year.
A fake online ad that solicits investments using the name and picture of economic analyst Takuro Morinaga without permission. Morinaga said he is not involved in the ad in any way and does not have social media accounts.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 19, 2024
Fake celebrity ad victims in Japan increase tenfold
Victims lost an average of ¥6.87 million, with the largest single loss hitting ¥170 million.
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japan dispatches five language education 'partners' to India
Five members of the Japan Foundation's Nihongo Partners program (front) gather at the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi on Monday.
End of U.S. de minimis exemption causes headaches for some businesses in Japan
Proxy-shopping services — companies that ship Japanese products ranging from cosmetics and snacks to limited-edition stationery on behalf of customers abroad — are already feeling the impact of the U.S. suspending de minimis exemptions.
Over 90% of low-income families in Japan struggling to feed children
Save the Children Japan domestic program chief Sonoko Kawakami speaks at a news conference in Tokyo in July. A survey conducted by the group in June has found that over 90% of low-income households with children face food insecurity.
Struggling train firm in Chiba Prefecture turns to self-deprecating humor
"Laughter is important when you're in a difficult situation," said Katsunori Takemoto, president of Choshi Electric Railway, on Aug. 5 in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture.
Japan’s front-line researchers see bright path ahead for dementia treatment
A scientist looks at scans of grains at the Memory Centre at the Department of Readaptation and Geriatrics of the University Hospital (HUG) in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 6, 2023.
Still plenty to fight for, says Japan’s team leader at worlds
Race walker Hayato Katsuki earned bronze for Japan on the opening day of the World Athletics Championships on Saturday.
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japanese athletes inspired by raucous home fans at World Athletics Championships
Fans cheer on the home favorites during the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.

Podcast

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