These are scams in Japan to watch out for
Intro Music Playing
So Japan is a relatively safe country
But to be fair, its not free from its own deceptive scams
so wanted to make this video
and share some of the more popular ones
Especially for those of you living in Japan
Just in case you ever come across it yourself
so you can avoid it before its too late
Also, I am not too familiar with scam from other countries
so do let me know which ones in Japan are similar
and different from your country
But like always before I start
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Lets start with one of the most popular scams in Japan
No 1. The Ore Ore Scam
a.k.a "Its me scam"
In this one scammers usually call by phone
and target an older victim
and pretend to be a relative
Usually their son, daughter or grandchild
They ask for money creating a emergency situation
where money is need right away
This scam works especially well in Japan
One, Because elderly are generally trusting
two, Japan is very much a cash based society
so its hard to trace
three, families don't talk much
especially as you get older
So, Its hard for the victim to recognize if its fact their family member
trying to contact them
four, family members usually don't ask for money
so getting a call such as this means its really important and urgent
for example, this last month alone
a man in his 80's from Numazu, Shizuoka
gave over $15,000
to a scammer claiming to be his son
The scammer told the victim that he made a mistake
on important company documents
and needed money that day to fix this situation
the victim agreed to meet the son's boss as the Numazu city office
where he gave the scammer more than $15,000
these scams do vary but work related excuses are often used
in saving face and protecting one's company
is an important part of Japanese culture
Damn, that's one reason to stay close to your family
No.2 - The Loan Deposit Scam
For this one the scammers send letter to would be victims offering an attractive financial loan
and then get the applicants to transfer money to the scammers account
by telling the victim that they need to send a deposit
in order to start the loan
the scammers will entice applicants by advertising things like
Incredibly low campaign interest rates
match with high loan amounts
or its operated by know government officials
and also have advertised simply screening
and no guarantor's needed
for example one victim of the scam received a highly attractive loan offer
via fax and decided to apply
he soon received a call from a loan officer
and was told he qualified for upto about $50,000
but he needed to send a 10% deposit first
So he borrowed money from his friends
and then sent over the $5,000 deposit
soon afterwards he was requested to send another $5000 to earn trust
the man didn't have the additional funds
so he asked for a refund of his initial deposit
but never got the money back
Damn all I can think about that he is still using a fax
Let's try to find a scam that's a little bit more digital
No 3. The Social Media Cash Giveaways scam
Over the recent years Japan has seen a increase in social media scams
specifically post pretending to be cash give away offers
and scamming victims out of electronic money
in 2019 a famous Japanese entrepreneur
and ex-CEO of ZOZO a popular Japanese online shopping site
offered on twitter about $10,000 each to 100 people
since then similar but fake cash giveaways post have increased in Japan
Designed to steal people's personal info
bank account, credit cards etc.,
For example, a woman in her 30's from Ishikawa Prefecture
was taken about $50 less here via a fake twitter account give away
pretending to be an another famous Japanese entrepreneur
so be careful of your personal data
even in Japan
04. The Romance Scam
This scam is also found online
but as the title suggest
place on the heart strings of the lonely and compassionate
on a rise in Japan
victims will be approached on social media
by a scammer pretending to have a romantic interest
in order to trick them out of money
for example a group of four men were alleged to have approached
a number of woman online in the Fukuoka prefecture
They were pretending to be foreign military men in needing money
the men messaged the women asking for financial support
for things like plane tickets and meet them
or money to leave the military
One woman in her 60's was taken for about $60,000 on this scam
I guess finding love online
also hurts in Japan
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That's said let continue on with the video
No.5 Tax Refund Scam
In this fun one, the scammers call and gain the trust of the victim
by pretending to be a government official from the city ward office
Tax office or social insurance agency using the victim's inhabitant tax
his state tax, pension premium,
or medical fees as the refund baits
specifically the scammers will say something like
Afterwards the victim is usually instructed to go to the ATM
and call the scammers back
Once the scammer receives the call
Its go time !!
They proceed to guide the victim in transferring funds to the scammers account
This one is popular in Japan because
this is not unheard of for government officials to contact residence
and notify them if they forgot to submit a document
or may be missed a payment
so yeah
I could see how this one could happen
But once someone asks you to go to the ATM
or go to your online banking account
that's when the alarm bells should start going off
No.6 COVID Scam
In light of the recent worldwide pandemic
a new crop of scams have surfaced in Japan
and this is one of them
Since many people in Japan were forced to quarantine
shut down businesses etc.
The Japanese government offered a business cash hand out
to companies and sole proprietors
about $20,000 for companies
and about $10,000 for sole proprietors
and the scammers saw a free money for the taking
Obviously each business owner was eligible
for only one business cash hand out
But the scammers found a way around
by convincing and instructing college students
on how to fraud the government
by applying to the program as a business owner
Although both equally guilty for the crime
The college students would take about 70-80% of the cut
and the original scammer would take the rest
Unfortunately for them, many of the students were caught
so be careful of someone trying to involve you in a scam
Wow !!
That's gonna be a fun conversation to have with the parents
No.7 Bar Scam
So this final one is for the tourist and visitors of Japan
Probably common in other parts of the world
but still worth mentioning here just in case
relatively speaking
there is not a lot of outright devious scams
geared towards travelers
but this one will even catch some of the seasoned travelers
especially if they come to Japan with their guard down
The basic gist is scammers will take
unsuspecting travelers to a bar
and when the traveler tries to leave
They will be charged with an expensive bill
so this scam comes in many forms
from the bling to the unsuspecting
for example
you have the foreigner standing at the corner of the street
in a popular drinking district
like Roppongi or Shinjuku
approaching travelers urging them to come to their bar
with a special discount
to later find out that their were hidden fees
and charges
other time it could be a little more subtle
like a cute girl on the street
were travelers approach them
travelers will start a conversation
and she will end up bringing them to a bar for drinks
in which she probably already have a special deal with the bar
and worse there is a special overpriced menu for the traveler
Finally, it could be a person you newly met on a dating app like Tinder
or may be a language learning app
which takes to you an expensive bar
Either way, you may be left with paying a huge bill
So there you go some of the popular scams in Japan
Again, let me know how it compares to your country
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