crime

Public warned to beware of coronavirus scams

7 Comments

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga is warning the public to be careful of scammers taking advantage of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, especially if they receive suspicious phone calls or coronavirus-themed phishing emails. 

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, phishing scams have been reported on the messaging app Line, where somebody pretending to be from the health ministry asks recipients to answer a questionnaire that requires them to input their credit card number.

Suga also warned elderly people to beware of people turning up in workman clothes, saying the health ministry had sent them to disinfect their house. In those cases, the bogus workmen stole money or other items from the elderly occupants.

“The police have been receiving an increasing number of calls from people who have victims of these scams,” Suga told a news conference. “In addition to obtaining information on these crimes, the police are working hard to promote awareness and enforce stronger crackdowns.” 

Suga stressed that fraudulent business practices and deceptive advertisements were taking advantage of consumers, by promoting remedies for the coronavirus, as well as price-gouging for face masks.

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7 Comments
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Bring 'em on ... come disinfect my house and I'll shove that stick up where the Sun don't shine.

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humanity has lost its way

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price-gouging for face masks.

Like pretending the little granny masks the Dear Leader is giving us all cost 200 yen each to produce?

40 billion yen on useless pantomime. Does anyone else want to see which firm is given the contract to fill this order, and how much of a kickback the LDP is getting?

That must have been one hell of a brown envelope.

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This is the work of the Yakuza doing this after the coronavirus hit the world's economy and Japan, you must look into this and investigate this because I suspect this the work of Yakuza and ex- Yakuza members doing this

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Economic crimes taking advantage of the crisis should meet severer punishment. Many contemporary scams are like joint projects involving many individual swindlers at home and abroad. Well-organized, yet dispersed and invisible so that they easily get away, and later gather again. Targeting elderly citizens they are as malicious as the coronavirus.

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It's really bothering that some people still want to take advantage of a pandemic at the risk of getting themselves sick just to rob someone off. Authorities should better monitor those who pretend to be them, it's all too easy to be complacent and be trusting towards anybody wearing authoritative clothes nowadays

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