An 81-year-old man residing in Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, fell victim to a social media investment scam and lost approximately 288.11 million yen. The scam involved the promise of operating an online store.
According to police reports, the man received a message from a woman on a social networking site in early April. Claiming to be Japanese, she asked if he would be interested in running an online store. The man agreed.
Subsequently, the woman requested money from him to purchase items for the shop. Over the course of four months until July, she managed to convince him to make 55 money transfers through online banking. It was only when he could no longer contact her on the social networking site that he realized he had been scammed.
Notably, despite their communication, the victim never met this woman face-to-face.
In light of this incident, authorities are cautioning the public about similar fraud cases where scammers employ exaggerated claims such as “You will definitely make money if you just invest in this scheme.”
It serves as a reminder for everyone to exercise caution and remain vigilant when engaging with strangers online who offer lucrative opportunities that seem too good to be true.
