Damage Scale Surpasses Voice Phishing
Investment Scams Surge as Retail Investors Increase Amid Stock Market Boom
In Japan, a recent surge in the Tokyo stock market has sparked an investment boom, leading to a sharp increase in investment fraud and romance scam cases through social networking services (SNS). Japanese police have warned that the scale of damage could grow even larger for the time being.
On the 7th, Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported that the National Police Agency of Japan conducted the first nationwide survey on SNS investment fraud and romance scam damages, revealing that the total damage amount last year was 44.52 billion yen (approximately 400 billion KRW). This amount exceeds the 44.1 billion yen in special fraud damages such as voice phishing that occurred during the same period.
The methods of SNS investment fraud are similar to South Korea's 'stock leading chat rooms.' They pretend to care for investors while embezzling cash or virtual currency. Fake advertisements are exposed on SNS to induce clicks, or personal messages are sent to victims' accounts, approaching them with claims like "We know asset management methods that can definitely generate profits." The average damage per case was 12.23 million yen, with 26 cases exceeding 100 million yen in damages. The largest damage amounted to 340 million yen.
Romance scams involved impersonating foreigners or Japanese residents living abroad and approaching victims through matching applications (apps). The main method was to create romantic feelings or a sense of closeness, then embezzle funds under the pretext of investment. The average damage was about 11.25 million yen, with the maximum damage reaching approximately 360 million yen.
Notably, the nationalities impersonated by the criminals stood out. 'East Asian' including China and South Korea accounted for the largest share at 35.2%. Following this, impersonation of overseas Japanese nationals accounted for 17.8%, and Southeast Asians made up 12.1%. Unlike South Korea, many criminals impersonated Asian nationalities. According to a report by Professor Park Mirang of Hannam University’s Department of Police Science, in South Korea’s romance scams, the highest proportion (43%) impersonated American nationality.
The victims’ age group was predominantly middle-aged, with those in their 40s to 60s accounting for over 70%. Nikkei analyzed, “Compared to voice phishing, where nearly 80% of victims are elderly aged 65 and above, the proportion of middle-aged victims is much higher.” In Japan, voice phishing is carried out by pretending to be children targeting elderly people, which is why voice phishing is also called ‘Ore Ore fraud.’ Using the first-person pronoun ‘Ore (俺),’ the scammer says things like “It’s me, Ore (Ore dayo, Ore),” to extort money.
The National Police Agency believes that the spread of SNS and the recent rise in the Nikkei index, which increased interest in investment, also contributed to the growth of damages. The agency stated, “We have instructed local police to establish a task force (TF) covering criminal, organized crime countermeasures, and cyber divisions,” and “We plan to request internet service providers to delete SNS posts that lead to investment scam sites.” For romance scams, information exchange and investigative cooperation with overseas law enforcement agencies will also be conducted.
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