Police in Tokyo have arrested the leader and one member of a large con-artist group accused of defrauding elderly people out of hundreds of millions of yen with various scams.
According to police, Kazuya Kusaka, 34, is the leader of a group of at least 150 members nationwide.
The group, which has been in operation for almost one and a half years, is allegedly responsible for stealing approximately 300 million yen from unsuspecting victims through fraudulent schemes, Fuji TV reported.
Police said that one of Kusaka's group called a 71-year-old woman living in Higashikurume City, Tokyo, last July. He pretended to be her son and said that he had left a bag with a check in it in the waiting room at a hospital and that it had disappeared. He managed to trick the woman out of 4 million yen by having her send another check.
Police said that Kusaka was referred to as "the Fraud Evangelist" by his followers.
© Japan Today
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sillygirl
Nice to read this.
Harry_Gatto
Unusual for anyone to be writing a cheque in Japan.
I'm pleased he/they are caught but 150+ members and they only managed 300 million Yen?
Nessie
When asked if he was guilty, Kusaka said "Ore ore ja nai."
Moderator
The story has since been updated.
FightingViking
No risk here ! They KNOW where the money is ! They're not going to waste a 'phone call on me !
Novenachama
Unfortunately a elderly person will often fall for this scam due to their trusting nature. Health problems that largely affect the elderly, such as loss of hearing, can also lead them to believe that they are in fact talking to their own grandchild. Some precautions people can take in order to not be a victim of these types of scams is to ask for personal information that only a family member would know, ask the person on the line what their name is, and not to take any calls from blocked or unfamiliar numbers.
Monozuki
These days, none of phone calls mostly on a land line can be any good. I make a point of not picking up these fishy calls as my telephone displays a telephone number of the calling party. Let alone anonymous calls!
After all, I usually get most of calls on my cell-phone from friends and such.
Tahoochi
Good to hear these stories once in a while. I hope the penalty fits the crime. IMO, crimes like this, and cyber-crime need to have heavier penalties for better detterence.
Frederic Bastiat
"Police in Tokyo have arrested the leader and one member of a large con-artist group accused of defrauding elderly people out of hundreds of millions of yen with various scams."
When I read this, I thought that Abe and his goons had been locked up. Wishful thinking. It was just low-level competition.
Frederic Bastiat
Is Kazuya Kusaka an alias of Abe?
Moderator: Please refrain from posting rubbish like this which just reflects badly on yourself.
Frederic Bastiat
This is my opinion. This Kazuya Kusaka is not much different from the goon Abe. Maybe that ruffles some feathers. One uses a different form of trickery from the other, but both deprive innocent citizens of their wealth.
Moderator: The moderator's decision is final at all times on this discussion board.
Frederic Bastiat
Glad to hear these particular criminals were arrested. Now, if only certain politicians were also prosecuted for their actions against innocent citizens.
CoconutE3
Send him to North Korea to do hard labor...
Frederic Bastiat
"Police in Tokyo have arrested the leader and one member of a large con-artist group accused of defrauding elderly people out of hundreds of millions of yen with various scams.
According to police, Kazuya Kusaka, 34, is the leader of a group of at least 150 members nationwide... "
Curious as to their political affiliation.
bajhista65
One solution since elderlies are always at home watching TV is to flash bulletins to avoid this kind of scam and to report it asap to the police. Fliers and posters about this poblems on every public buildings and areas. Is that too tasking for the police?
Frederic Bastiat
"Unfortunately a elderly person will often fall for this scam due to their trusting nature."
Very true. And on top of that, the folks elect similar crooks.
Frederic Bastiat
Glad they got busted.
LAcajun
Attacking the elderly needs to be treated same as attacking kids
Commodore Shmidlap (Retired)
He "graduated." They did a big story on it on the morning news show. There was a big press conference, he made a speech and cried and the president of his fan club gave him a big bouquet of flowers. It was quite the touching scene!