Number of cyber scams in Japan up 8% in 2023; overall crimes increase to 703,351

The Japanese police must be good.They know the exact number of crimes that have been committed.I can't imagine how they knew that I rode through a red light in the middle of the countryside with no one around while I was out on my bicycle last September.

Another sign of the tough times, I've heard a couple stories, friends of friends falling prey to the typical get rich hype/pitch.

This is why I always answer my house phone and mobile phone with a booming "Hello!!". Any would be scammers are put off straight away. Also great for unwanted cold calls from sales companies. Just answer in English - it works every time ..

The first to blame are the providers for putting $$$ before public safety. Most Scammers and hackers are well known to their providers, the see their activities, and profiles and yet they continue on providing them with Cell signals and numbers.

Anyone who thinks that they are untraceable is a fool, in this day and age NOTHING can be done without the knowledge of the your phone company and yet they turn a blind eye.

Interesting that once rape was defined as sex without consent regardless of whether the woman fought back the number of rapes increased; and when reporting became easier and less taboo after the Shiori Ito case the number of rapes also increased. It's almost as if I have been right all this time about most sex crimes going unreported, and the people saying Japan is oh so safe for women were, well, wrong. Hm.

The number of overall crimes in Japan in 2023 increased for the second straight year by 102,020 to 703,351 offenses.

This is the tip of the iceberg. This figure is the number of crimes prosecuted by the police. The number of crimes actually prosecuted by the police is less than 10%. That's right, 90 % of cases do not go to court. They are settled between the lawyers, victims and offenders. Crimes from theft, assault and even rape are settle out of court.

We all need to be vigilant and realize that it's not localized and not depend on the police. My brother in law at Apple suggested a good source, Krebs on Security.

Roy...

The remaining 10% you quote are going in front of a court, about 70,000 to 75,000 people each year.

You are correct. It's less than 10% going to court. This can result in some quite serious crimes not being punished. I know of a case where a 16 year was abducted, her family didn't want the stress of a court case so the criminal paid 300,000 yen to make it all go away.

More people with financial problems naturally lead to more crimes committed, many people see it as a last resort. As for sexual offenses, it just shows that more people are willing to go to the police about it, which is a good thing. I know so many people here that has in some way been a victim to a sexual offense but they either thought they were to blame or didn't see a point in doing so.

The Japanese criminal mind hasn't even started.... The Police have no chance,. Oh yeah, I forgot, they get their 10% also