A self-employed man in his sixties from Osaka was scammed out of cryptocurrency worth approximately 440 million yen by someone impersonating a police officer.
A significant scam involving a self-employed man in Osaka has come to light, where the victim was deceived out of approximately 440 million yen in cryptocurrency by an individual impersonating an officer from the Shibuya Police Department. According to the Osaka Prefectural Police, this incident marks one of the highest amounts of financial loss due to fraud this year, with 440 million yen being a record figure for similar scams reported nationwide since the beginning of the year.
The fraud began with a phone call to the victim's house from someone claiming to be a member of the Shibuya Police Department, warning him that his personal information was being misused and that he might have lost his driver's license. Initially skeptical, the man reached out to the nearest police station. However, a follow-up call from the fraudster led him to believe that the police were indeed involved and that his case was legitimate, further trapping him in the scam. The impersonator went to great lengths, even conducting video calls dressed in police uniform to gain the man's trust.
In the first two months of this year alone, around 200 similar cases have been reported involving police impersonation scams, leading to a staggering loss of approximately 2.3 billion yen. The Osaka Prefectural Police have urged the public to remain vigilant and emphasized that legitimate law enforcement does not investigate assets or demand money from individuals, hoping to prevent further victimization as scams become increasingly sophisticated and pervasive.
