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Two men posing as gas company employees talked their way into the apartment of an elderly couple in Tokyo, stole an ATM card and cleaned out their bank account, police said.
According to police, the two men knocked on the door of the apartment in Adachi Ward at around 1 p.m. on Sept 24, Sankei Shimbun reported. Dressed in workmen’s clothes, they said they had come to inspect the gas meter. Once inside the apartment, the two men roughed up the man, in his 80s, and bound his hands and legs with adhesive tape. About three hours later, the man’s wife, who is in her 70s, returned from shopping, and she, too, was tied up. The intruders demanded the couple’s ATM card and PIN number.
One of the men left while the other remained. He told the couple that he would untie them on condition that they didn’t call the police, to which they agreed. He untied them and left.
The next morning, the couple confirmed with the bank that money had been stolen from their account and notified police at a nearby koban.
Police said a similar incident occurred on Sept 23 at a residence about one kilometer from where the elderly couple live.
The National Police Agency says there has been a spate of robberies since August by men posing as gas employees who visit homes where elderly people live and tell them they have come to carry out gas inspections. Once inside, they rob the residents.
© Japan Today
13 Comments
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starpunk
Sign of the times. The exact same thing is happening in my home city in America.
sir_bentley28
That's why there are chains on doors.
That's why I have 2 4K surveillance cameras covering the whole front of my house. Its CRYSTAL clear so if something like this happens, I can see everything from my phone and can show it to the police.
pudus
"There is literally no one to blame except the scammers. The gas company did nothing wrong."
They have neighborhood small ward billboards, written in Japanese warning Japanese people of the various types scammers targeting the elderly, and other types of criminals preying in the neighborhoods. The only thing I don't like is they always depict the criminals in complete black, and the victims in yellow or white.
CaptDingleheimer
People who scam/rob senior citizens should get tuned up by the police real good back at the station.
Bugle Boy of Company B
There is literally no one to blame except the scammers. The gas company did nothing wrong.
Mark
First of all I blame the gas company for not putting of notifications informing customers of this scam, Second local police she be informing community leaders so the can inform the community. May be NHK should be saying something about it since most elderly watch TV.
How Sad.
oldman_13
Things getting worse out there.
TokyoJoe
Im not a religious person. However if there was an afterlife, I hope there is a special place in Hell reserved for these people. Absolutely boils my blood to hear this, how can people be so heartless to prey on vulnerable elderly people.
Luddite
Utter scum. This con trick is common in the U.K. Anyone that targets the vulnerable should get life.
Haggis-Hunter81
Scumbags. Hope they get caught soon.