Record ¥3 bil stolen via phishing in Japan in 1st half of 2023

In July, the agency also requested financial institutions via the Japanese Bankers Association to enhance their security measures.

That just saying please cooperate and spend your company profit for this matters.

While doing nothing that really matters and just keep busy checking for bicycle license registration on the street.

few simple steps to avoid to get scammed or at least to reduce risk of it.

-always check email of sender.if pretends to be from dhl domain should be dhl.com and not some kind of gmail etc

-never give remote access to your computer via anydesk etc/once you do other side will change your password they will lock your computer will steal all of your data

-never talk over phone about internet banking with unknown person.if have any issues with bank account or internet banking contact bank directly and not some "agencies"

-use good antivirus programs say avast or anything,better invest some money in won security than get scammed and hacked

-if you come to point to some payment for any "goods for sale" offered at incredibly low prices/say Iphone for 30% of price or standard price/ once you get asked for it by giftcard this should be no-go-zone for you.google for giftcard scam script,there are a lot of info available online

-stay smart and use your common sense.dont be greedy.cheap things comes sometimes at incredibly high costs

If someone steals a banana from a konbini you have the whole ward police investigating the case. But the internet seems to be in another dimension for them, it's like explaining a caveman what a fax is.

I've found the JP phishing emails to be even less convincing than their Western counterparts. Truly easy to spot. Especially the SMS/Text messages with links, which one should never click. Ever.

I think one of the problems in Japan, is that many people are new to the technology. And, thus, assume everything they see on the Net is legitimate. They don't know what to look for. (TBF, the same is true for many people in the West, especially the seniors.)

They can also be too trusting. The almost unbelievable success of phone scams here is testament to that.

I've noticed that banks and e-tailers are sending out lots of emails lately warning about these scams, and how to avoid falling victim. So, that should at least help a little.

Japan is a paradox

Curiously all of these scammers are operating in Japan since Japanese is not spoken anywhere else...

What does that tell you about the nature of scammers - an Asian-based crime?

Right? Nobody speaks the Japanese language other than Japanese people who are living Japan. Oh wait.

(Plus, that crazy little thing called Google Translate.)

Lots of prc criminals come here disguised as "students" and study computer science at local universities.

Just saying.

Here's a tip:

Link your credit cards to a smaller account with just enough money to pay for bills, groceries, etc. This way, if anything happens, only a small amount is gone.

Keep your main savings account SEPARATE ( eg, if your employer credits your salary directly into your bank account).

Simple lesson.

I treat all emails as fake, never click any links.

If I am curious or want to find out more I log onto the official website directly on a PC, via a dedicated browser that I only ever use for banking/finance....

I feel for the older folks who don't really understand the dangers... the police/media here put a lot of effort in making people aware of the fake phone callers that prey on older folks but not much is done to inform about email based communication. I've drilled this into my parents/grandparents... but I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that don't have anyone to warn them.

If you go with internet banking, be prepared to deal with all that comes with it.

Safe alternative: simply forego internet banking.

There are several layers of protection with internet banking.

Wesley

Here's a tip:

Link your credit cards to a smaller account with just enough money to pay for bills, groceries, etc. This way, if anything happens, only a small amount is gone.

Keep your main savings account SEPARATE ( eg, if your employer credits your salary directly into your bank account).

Nah. Not worth the trouble to open another account just for that. Plus, a lot of people, such as my wife and I, charge more than just those basics. So, we would also be transferring money all the time based on the totals from the different cards and ETC, etc.

Credit card account holders are protected against fraudulent charges. You generally have a month or more before the card companies hit your bank account. Plenty of time to spot fraudulent charges before then.

Just set your credit card account to send you an alert whenever there is a charge. If that would be too many alerts, you can set a specific threshold, so you get an alert for transactions over a certain amount, such as ¥5,000 or ¥10,000.

Why can't internet providers and cell phone companies work with the police on identifying and blocking these accounts and phone numbers including their IP address!? what is so hard about pulling the plug on these scammers? I just don't get it.

When people report a scam the authorities in charge should investigate and be able to block that IP address or phone number within hours. we can do it with our own phones so why cant the police do it for the public?

I just received an email from the Japan Immigration Service. So, it would seem that scammers are targeting foreigners here, as well.

There goes the theory someone posted above that only Japanese are victims and only Japanese are doing the scamming.

Why can't internet providers and cell phone companies work with the police on identifying and blocking these accounts and phone numbers including their IP address!? 

Both phone numbers and IP addresses are easily masked, and with the absolute flood of incidents it’s impossible to trace much of any of them, much less all.