One of the most problematic side-effects of Japan’s steadily aging population has been the proliferation of “special fraud” (tokushu sagi). This is a general term for scams that rely on cold calls to reach a large number of people but in recent years are increasingly targeting seniors.
The exact method can vary, such as pretending to be a family member in trouble, but it often involves getting the victim to make a bank transfer. And thanks to mobile phones, criminals can guide their victims through the process right at an ATM without ever having to appear in person.
This has made it harder for police in Japan to track down these thieves, let alone try to stop the crime from happening in the first place. These desperate times have called for potentially desperate measures such as a proposal to restrict seniors’ access to their bank accounts.
Now Japan’s National Police Agency announced a plan that’s less intrusive and more technologically sophisticated. An AI will analyze security camera footage of people using ATMs and if they are seen using a mobile phone at the same time, a video warning will be displayed on the teller machine.
The video features Keita Tachibana, former member of the boy band W-inds and current member of the National Police Agency’s SOS47 group of celebrities who raise awareness of special fraud. If its intended purpose is to be alarming, it does its job very well with Tachibana pointing a very enlarged finger at the viewer and telling them: “WARNING! That phone call is fraud! Hang up right now!”
Tachibana said that he hopes the video can help stop people from becoming victims but judging by the comments online, it might result in an increase in his fans using their phones at ATMs just to look at him.
“I hope special fraud will decrease with Keita-kun’s wonderful video.”
“They should go after the people committing the fraud first.”
“Keita-kun is so cool! I hope special fraud goes down.”
“Keita-kun! Cool!”
“He’s so hot!”
“His hand is so big.”
To develop the system the National Police Agency is currently working with the post office, which in Japan is privatized and also a bank. It’s unclear whether they’re triggered by using any and all ways of using a phone or only talking on them specifically, but Japan Post Bank ATMs across the country are expected to play the video to those an AI deems is in danger of being defrauded sometime in the future.
We wonder how good the AI is though. A lot of ATMs have phones attached with hotlines to customer support in case there’s a problem. So, if you're talking to a bank employee because the machine ate your card, is Keita-kun going to suddenly shout “Hang up right now!” and point his big finger at you?
Source: NTV News
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
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© SoraNews24
17 Comments
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sakurasuki
Less intrusive? That's more than notification! So in Japan if you are using phone while using ATM will be assumed that fraud activity is ongoing? It could be talking with co-worker, family, friend etc.
They'll update their ATM with additional screen for that video nationwide? How much will that be?
Strangerland
No, that won't happen. Don't worry, the sky isn't falling.
indigo
AI becomes the new Police toy
owzer
I plan to use my phone just to see the video - and alarm the staff.
factchecker
Not a hope in hell of being effective.
dagon
This is done through government and financial entities and the gov turns a blind eye to it.
But maybe some foreign hackers or cash-strapped Japanese young people desperate for work and roped into shady online work will menace seniors.
So deploy the crony ad-agency posters and commercials to remind the senior populace the surveillance is for your benefit!!
dagon
Your residence/income taxes at work.
virusrex
It is much less intrusive than the measure mentioned just before which is to "restrict seniors’ access to their bank accounts"
And hopefully more effective without needing to restrict anybody access to their money.
If there is a much higher incidence of fraud in these situations then it is still justified, after all if people are in a situation where fraud is completely out of the question (for example talking about something unrelated to the transaction) they can just ignore the video. For those that are instead being manipulated by criminals this can be the warning that can let them notice the situation is shady.
Yubaru
And actually you would only be fractionally correct, maybe! Residence taxes would not be used and income tax is only 18% or so of the total budget/income so you might be correct.
James
And what if the mobile phone is in your pocket and you have ear pieces and mic? or a bluetooth headset?
Strangerland
That could be considered an indicator that the person has enough of their sensibilities about them to use technology, and be less likely to be scammed...
Jonathan Prin
Why not ?
But if the person is so naive, to say the least, as to make a money transfer through a simple call, then one shall assume that person in everyday life shall be supervised daily by family.
Speed
The ATM center with six ATMs by my house don't have paper shredders or a garbage can. There are paper receipts all over the place. How about a small basic trash bin?
virusrex
So bad actors can get all the receipts with less effort?
What would be necessary to avoid risk of personal information being leaked would be a trash bin that don't allows for retrieval of the contents. Lots of ATM like the ones from Mizuho or the Post office come with small slits for that purpose.
Paul
My wife gets interrogated at the bank every time she pays for house repair/maintenance/reforming even paying care home fees for her father!!!!!
iradickle
No clue why all the thumbs down. You didn't say anything that didn't make sense.
virusrex
Showing a video is definitely less intrusive than restricting the access of people to their accounts, which is what the article is saying.