Identity fraudster steals 45 million yen from elderly woman

Again...?

I really can't believe these gullible oldsters.

No sympathy...sorry!

I know a lot of elderly people are not as sharp in the mind as they used to be it amazes me how people can fall for this. Drop 45 million off at the conbini car park? Sure nephew!

Well, clealy she is not in her right mind, otherwise this would not have happened. So the question needs to be not how could she fall for it, but how can these people be protected from these scumbags that prey on them?

How can she even withdraw that amount of money at the bank in the first place without any safeguards in place? We tried to withdraw a significant sum recently and were told we can only withdraw 500,000 at a time. So unless she withdrew 500,000 48 times (you would think the system would then flag something up) she would have had to go physically into a bank to do it. If so, is it so difficult to make the bank staff follow a step in their procedures where they call a family member if an elderly indvidual tries to withdraw a large sum? Or even question her on it?

These ore ore scams are so well known and widespread these days you would think family members would have taken steps to safeguard their elderly relatives.

I've always felt that one of the elements in this never-ending type of crime is that the criminals are hoping to find older people who may be losing their marbles. But on top of this there have been cases where the criminals had extra information on the targets which helped to make their story a bit more plausible.

Apparently the woman withdrew 24 million from a bank but the rest of the money she had at home for a real-estate purchase she was going to make. Perhaps in the phone call the 'nephew' made reference to this purchase. He also probably said that the check couldn't be used and she'd get the money back.

No wonder the world gets more cynical everyday. The old lady is a victim!!! Gullible yes, but still a victim and the criminal who stole the money should rot in jail!!!

One of the biggest perks of living in Japan is that safe feeling you get just walking down the street. Scums like this that take away that tranquility from us, little by little.

Who would just hand 45 million to someone they've never met? I feel for this woman and her family but talk about gullible! Ever heard of confirming important identifying information beforehand or questioning why your bonehehead nephew didn't contact the police, etc?

Would it really be so hard for banks to introduce a requirement for an interview in case that elderly people suddenly withdraw double-digit amounts of money in cash?

And if the answer is: "My nephew lost a 45 million Yen check in the combini toilet, and needs the cash now", surely someone can remind them of the ore-ore scheme?

45 million yen?! That is an awful lot of money. I wonder, how many phone calls did it take to find someone who has that amount of cash readily available?? Something smells a little fishy.

I hardly ever hear about these kind of stories in the countries - Australia and the UK - that I am familiar with. They seem to be epidemic here but is it because people are more credulous? Or what is it?

They seem to be epidemic here but is it because people are more credulous? Or what is it?

It happens quite often here in the US, too. It seems scammers have access to a list of names and telephone numbers of retired and elderly people. I retired at 74. Soon after I retired, I started getting phone calls from smooth-talking folks who stated I had won cars, lots of money, vacation trips, etc. Usually, I erased their voicemail messages. However, whenever I answered their calls, they always wanted me to send quite a bit of money to cover the cost of "processing" my prizes. I always told them to take the processing fee out of my winnings and send me what's left. They usually hung up after that. (LOL). They continue to call, but not as often. Sadly, there have been many instances of elderly (and younger) folks falling for this and similar scams which have resulted in their handing over large sums of money for nothing in return.. To add insult to injury, many of these scammers give call-back telephone numbers that are in Jamaica (Area Code 876). Folks who fall for the scams apparently mistake the 876 area code tor a US toll-free number, and are billed for expensive international calls (when they call to inquire about their fraudulent winnings).

A short time later, the woman's son telephoned her nephew to confirm the story, at which point the deception was discovered.

Why did she have her son call her nephew AFTER she gave the perp the money? She should have called her nephew right after she got the call from the perp.

The government should be more proactive in addressing this sort of crime. Increase awareness of the problem by airing more public service announcements on TV and on the radio. I just got a notice in the mail warning about foreign lottery scams. The more people are reminded of these scams, the less likely they are to fall for them.