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Police in Mizuho Ward, Nagoya, are searching for two men in connection with a robbery/assault that took place on June 16. The victim, a woman in her 30s, allowed the robbers into her home because she had been expecting a visit from a man she met on the popular text messaging service Line.
Line was created in 2011 after the Tohoku earthquake as a way for people to contact one another over the Internet during times of emergency. It became wildly popular in Japan and is often the communication method of choice for smartphone users in the country. In addition to sending text and images to “friends” on a user’s list, free voice and video chats are also available.
Sometimes users may be contacted by other unknown people or companies for purposes such as advertising. In the case of the victim, she had met a man using the application and got to know him solely through Line.
On the day of the incident at around 3 a.m., she received a message along the lines of, “Can I come to your home and visit today?” The woman agreed and said that she would open the door. At approximately 4:20 a.m., her doorbell rang.
However, two men were waiting outside. They forced their way in and began demanding money. The woman refused, which led them to start punching her in the head and face. Ultimately she offered them 70,000 yen which they took and fled.
The two men were described as being in their 20s. One of them was thin and around 175 cm tall, while the other was of muscular build and 160 cm tall.
Police are saying that the man the victim had been in contact with on Line is a prime suspect and are looking into his identity. It goes without saying that when talking to people online, you should always be cautious of giving out personal information like your address.
Source: Asahi Shimbun
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20 Comments
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M3M3M3
Unfortunately there's a LINE sticker for that too. That vile one where Brown grabs Cony and kicks her in the face.
Shocking story but its sometimes hard to feel sorry for people who are to a large extent the authors of their own misfortune.
sensei258
I don't care who it is, I'm not opening my door at 4:30 in the morning for anyone, duh
tmarie
So a woman in her 30s befriends someone she hasn't met, agrees to let him come over in the middle of the night and gets robbed and beated? At 30 I would think someone her age would know better. I feel sorry for her but preventable in so many ways.
alimel1969
I'm sorry that this poor woman went through this but how naïve can one be? If some guy I have never met face to face asks me for an invite an three in the morning I would know right then and there that his intentions are suspect. Anyway, I wish her a speedy recovery and a lesson learned as this could have been much worse.
M3M3M3
I suppose there might be a difference between the predictable 'suspect intentions' of a 4:00am visitor which she may have been agreeable to for all we know, and getting punched in the face and robbed.
rickyvee
a 4:30 booty call from someone you've never met before? sorry but i feel very little sympathy for her. and she's lucky that they only stole 70,000 yen. she could have been harmed much worse.
Elizabeth Heath
Very naive, but the poor duped woman won't be the last.
TokyoGas
Sorry, but this woman was an idiot. Allowing a LINE chat friend to visit you at 4:20am is looking for trouble. She is very lucky that they just punched her instead of a sexual assault.
Beer4me
She is lucky that she only got a beating! could of been alot worse! Dumb just Dumb!
khulifi
Lost the romance of early morning ...
Sokujin
1) LINE is connected to your phone number. It shouldn't be hard for the police to trace LINE messages to a phone and/or email addresses.
2) Certain Japanese media once again engages in fear and hysteria. The unknown menace might get you, so start shaking in fear, in your closet.
3) This tactic can be done with E=MAIL too. Maybe people should throw their PCs and smartphones away, and go back to planting rice and hiding deep in the country, preferably in a remote wooden shack.
Beer4me
@sokujin there is always a way to spoof mobile devices.
FightingViking
I don't use "LINE" but it does remind me of he time a "false" police officer got my address out of me and apparently came to the house at 03:30am - only to be greeted by the fierce barking of my Labrador... He never came back...
Garthgoyle
She deserves an award, for stupidity, that is.
30 years old and she still doesn't know that you shouldn't give your personal info to total strangers? And if you're gonna meet that stranger, why on Earth at your place? And at freaking 3am??? Doesn't ask that ring any bells? She's lucky nothing serious happened.
kaimycahl
Oh no this doesn't happen in Japan!!! Japan is very safe Im so shocked and surprised any Japanese person can do such a thing
Tahoochi
Yes, but it is much worse for her future because they know where she lives. Even if these guys get caught, they're not gonna be incarcerated forever. She basically needs to move now.
Cliffy
Probably not the first time she met face to face with the guy; otherwise, why would anyone would meet a person in his/her own home for the first time? Unless one is running some home based business.
WilliB
I don´t invite people who I have never met into my house at 3 am, and I am a guy. Good grief woman, get some common sense!
Stewart Gale
It's pretty naive for a woman to set up a meeting in her house at 4.20am with some bloke she's never met. That's just asking for trouble.
602miko
nope friends or whoever im not going to open my door at the middle of the night or early morning,