More parents getting ripped off by people posing as their kids

TOKYO – The National Police Agency on Thursday reported a surge in fraud cases involving younger people who swindle older people by pretending to be their children or grandchildren urgently in need of some money.
Between January and October, the police were alerted about or investigated 3,807 cases, including attempts. The allegedly swindled amounts totaling 2.26 billion yen in 2,768 cases, with 300,000-500,000 yen being the figure in many cases.
In many of these cases, a group of young unemployed men worked together, called people in their 50s through 70s and said, ‘ore, ore’ (roughly translated as ‘hey, it’s me’).
They then said they asked for money for settlements of traffic accidents, repayments to loan sharks and other emergencies to be sent to bank accounts.
The majority of the cases were committed by a group of perpetrators who performed different tasks, such as making the call, withdrawing cash from a bank account and keeping watch while the withdrawal was made, the agency said.
Some suspects said they saw other cases reported on TV and just imitated what seemed to be an easy technique, according to the agency. They told the police they just called the phone numbers listed in a directory with names typically given to old people.
In late October, Tokyo police made arrests in a case where a man, pretending to be a son, allegedly called a 47-year-old housewife in Fuchu, western Tokyo, saying he had an accident while driving a friend’s car and need money for car repair. The woman then sent 3.3 million yen to a bank account. The police believe a group of 12 were working together and swindled around 15 million yen in this and four other cases.

(via JapanToday)

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