17-year-old student arrested for swindling Y4 mil from 80-year-old woman

A 17-year-old male high school student from Gunma Prefecture has been arrested for fraud after swindling 4 million yen from an 80-year-old woman on Sept 6. The youth was apprehended the next day while committing a similar scam.

The high school student, a resident of Ota City, Gunma Prefecture, is suspected of visiting the 80-year-old at her home in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture, to obtain the cash on Sept 6, Fuji TV reported.

According to police reports, the teenager was part of a scam group, and his role was to collect the money in person. Another boy is said to have placed a fraudulent call, disguised as the victim’s eldest son, pleading that he had lost a bag that contained a check and asked if she could lend him 4 million yen. The caller said he would send over his colleague’s son to pick up the money.

On September 7, police received a report from a 64-year-old man in Saitama Prefecture who received a similar phone call to the 80-year-old victim in Chiba. The high school boy was arrested on the spot after attempting to fraudulently obtain 1.5 million yen from the man.

Police said the suspect has admitted to the charge and quoted him as saying, “I thought I could get a lot of money if I tried this for week."

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