A man in his 60s told police on Monday that he had been swindled out of 4 million yen by a man in his 80s pretending to be his brother who claimed that he needed the cash as "settlement money" for a 17-year-old girl whom he had accidentally gotten pregnant.
Police are investigating the incident as a case of bank transfer fraud, as the money was deposited in the older man's account in two transactions on Jan 26.
According to police, at the time of the bank transfer, the man asked his "brother" on the phone to repay the money by Feb. 1. When the day came and there was no word from the "brother," the younger man phoned his older brother and found out that there was no pregnant girl and that the entire thing was a hoax.
The man was quoted by police as saying, "I was completely fooled. I never thought this kind of thing would happen to me."
© News reports
24 Comments
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InTheKnow
Let me get this straight--I've read this three times-- he realized later he didn't have an 80-year-old brother? Or he didn't recognize his voice? Either way, this idiot deserved to have 4 million plucked from his dumb ass.
chotto
A fool and his money...
But seriously, isn't easy to track who he sent the money to?
USNinJapan2
What I'd like to know is how old the real older brother is. Evidently not too old that the victim wouldn't doubt the bogus pregnancy story...
JA_Cruise
here's the story, the swindler posed as his brother, which in fact the guy who got swindled happened to have a brother. And the man who was swindled didn't recognize his brother's voice. More than that this guy is a doof ball, he's indirectly admitting that he committed statutory rape with a 17 year old girl!!
cleo
He's admitting that he believed his older brother got a 17-year-old pregnant. Like all the gullible old biddies who are eager and ready to believe their husbands or children have committed grand larceny, embezzled company funds, run up enormous debts to shady characters, etc.
combinibento
Shame on the criminal for taking advantage of the mentally handicapped.
Wakarimasen
The 80 year old guy had gotten a 17 year old pregnant? And he was believed. Fabulous.
Sarge
"he had been swindled out of 4 million yen by a man in his 80s"
How do we know the man is in his 80s? He hasn't been been caught.
TumbleDry
sarge: good point
stirfry
it's not so much that a fool and his money are soon parted, its more how did they get together in the first place ?
lovejapan21
I dont think a mentally handicapped person could have saved 4 mil Combinibento, unless you were being sarcastic
neverknow2
??? What's wrong with this story? Id someone making this stuff up and pretending this is news? No way could a human being fall for this!
timorborder
Don't know what to believe in this story. The only thing I am thankful about is that girl is not pregnant. Can you imagine either one of these two old codgers passing on their genes? Perhaps it is best for the human race that this never actually happened.
dolphingirl
HUH? Someone calls you who claims he is your brother and says--Hey! I need some money cause I got a girl pregnant--and you reply--Sure! I'll transfer some money to your account right away.--You would have to be very stupid to fall for this con. Perhaps the 60-year-old was mentally challenged?
whyamiinjapan
I think timorborder has a hint of something there. Is this story believable? I think the guy was scammed for something else or took part in something and made up this stupid story to get his money back. His word against the bad guy.
yourock
Unbelievable. Just love these stories.
sharky1
This is just too stupid for words...
InTheKnow
But you would be wrong. I used to tell students here that before NOVA I drove a shinkansen. More than one said, "Really?" and they were serious.
Never mind that they don't let Japanese women drive shinkansen, much less a gaijin with 'the shakes' after too much Kirin the night before.
nimbus
Let's look at this on the bright side. Assuming the scam did go down as the guy claimed, although the guy was incredibly stupid, he fell for the scam because he wanted to help his older brother and not because of his greed (like the usual lottery scam one hears all the time).
XXXXX
disgusting, even hypothetically
ChrisBiggins
I feel sorry for the old man. I would imagine he is senile or mentally ill. People who prey on the elderly and vunerable are beastly and deserve harsh punishments.
XXXXX
speaking
Ken Watanabe
Gross, and pathetic. Eeeww!!
my2sense
sorry sucker.