crime

Man told he owes unpaid adult web site fees, ends up giving scammers over ¥100 million

23 Comments
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24

The nights are long and cold in Hokkaido, Japan’s snowy northernmost prefecture. It wouldn’t be particularly unusual, then, for a 50-something man living in Sapporo, Hokkaido’s prefectural capital, to turn to the unclothed ladies of the internet to make his nights a little less lonely.

So maybe the man, whose name has not been released, wasn’t too surprised when he received an email from someone claiming to be a representative from NTT Finance, asking him to call a number the email said was their customer service center, only to be told by another person, this one saying they were from NTS Debt Collection, that he owed money for unpaid porn site fees.

This happened back in October, and the man obediently transferred the demanded amount of money into a bank account the supposed debt collector told him to. However, over the next two months he continued to receive demands for various payments, such as one from someone saying he was a representative from Nihon Network Security. “Your cell phone has spread a virus to many other people, and so you must pay damages to them,” the man was told, as well as that he would have to make a “cyber insurance” payment.

Most people would be suspicious of a report of their phone spreading a virus if it’s apparently too old of a model to even be called a smartphone, but not the man in Sapporo.

The man ended up making dozens of payments before things felt fishy enough for him to go to the police, which he did on Dec 10. When interviewed, the man said he’d made dozens of payments since the initial “unpaid adult website fees” claim in October, with the total amount he’s handed over coming to roughly 109 million yen.

While NTT Finance, NTS Debt Collection, and Nihon Network Security are actual companies, it turns out he was actually transferring his money to fraudsters, who apparently realized they’d hooked a whale and decided to take the man for as much as they could.

Considering his willingness to cough up whatever money he was asked for, it’s possible he hadn’t even gone to any adult site in the first place, but even if he had, charged video streaming website always ask for payment up-front. So remember, anyone asking you to give them money for “unpaid adult site fees” is a scammer. It’s best to just ignore them, and under no circumstances should you engage them in conversation.

Sources: NHK News Web via Jin, Yahoo! Japan News/HTB News via Otakomu

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- Japanese police question man for “not looking good in a suit,” turns out he robbed an old lady

-- Disappearing anime studio resurfaces, still owes 8 million yen to unpaid workers

-- Bomb threats for Bitcoin bewilder local governments in Japan who couldn’t pay if they wanted to

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

23 Comments
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Beware: I was informed that I had won an iPhone: all I had to do was send them 100 Yen to receive it. This transaction unknowingly registered me to a service I knew nothing about and a 10 800 Yen bill.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

So remember, anyone asking you to give them money for “unpaid adult site fees” is a scammer. It’s best to just ignore them, and under no circumstances should you engage them in conversation.

The 50-something man was so naive. :‑(

0 ( +0 / -0 )

He should stuck to figure-skating on NHK.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

50 years old and still as gullible as the day he was born...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Damn. I don't even pay my real bills.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

 saying they were from NTS Debt Collection, that he owed money for unpaid porn site fees.

Oh really? Haha, I would demand and ask them to state who my favorite actress was or what my favorite genre is......because of course they would know it if it were legit.....

ERRRRRRRR

i mean, how disgusting!!!!!! How much porn was this fool watching anyways!?!!?!? Get a hobby sir!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

MarkX

I'll say it again as I do with many of these fraud cases, this was done by someone who knew this gentleman.

Absolutely not. He just fell for the 491 type scams, which everyone with a mail address gets all the time. Just open your spam folder and answer any of the messages that tell you about some Nigerian prince who wants to send you money, and you have the same experience.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The man ended up making dozens of payments before things felt fishy enough for him to go to the police, which he did on Dec 10.

AFTER paying 100 million to the scammers? A bit late to wake up, but I suppose better late than never...

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Give you even better reason to get a VPN if you use wi-fi even within your own home.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

noriahojanenToday  10:05 am JST

No wonder cheap frauds of this kind hardly disappear. Like a jackpot whose "winning" probability is higher than that from Japan's year-end lottery.

BTW, I've received messages of a widow who has just inherited too much money so she is willing to give out some... should I send her back with my personal info?

Maybe you should, after all it is the season of giving. Send me her info. I may send her little Johnny's college fund. He won't need it what with global warming, COVID, etc. I sent little Jane's to someone just like her the other day and I am sure she is doing a world of good with it.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

No wonder cheap frauds of this kind hardly disappear. Like a jackpot whose "winning" probability is higher than that from Japan's year-end lottery.

BTW, I've received messages of a widow who has just inherited too much money so she is willing to give out some... should I send her back with my personal info?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

There's a sucker born every minute. There's also a sucker for every scam out there. Maybe even the same sucker for the same scam multiple times. Fool me once, shame on you fool me twice shame on me. How does this continue when you get fooled several times?

The man ended up making dozens of payments before things felt fishy enough for him to go to the police

"Wait a minute! Do you suppose I've been tricked?" Real possibility there, Dick Tracy.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

With the number of scams increasing all the time, it is surprising that he didn't double check before paying. Although, often in Japan, people pay money without questioning first. Unfortunately, the scammers knew they had found easy money with this guy.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Man in his fifties? Thought it was eighties. Should know better. If someone manages to save 100 million you'd think they have some brains.

15 ( +18 / -3 )

I'll say it again as I do with many of these fraud cases, this was done by someone who knew this gentleman. They new he had cash, and that he probably was surfing or paying for porn. And this guy was a total idiot to believe what they were sending him. Hard to believe he had that much money.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Honestly who pays for pornography? And who pays after people demand that you pay for pornography.

12 ( +16 / -4 )

Caught by phishing - hook, line and sinker.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

A fool and his money...

8 ( +11 / -3 )

The title is misleading. The adult website fees was one of multiple that he paid.

9 ( +13 / -4 )

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