Financial Crime World

Title: Record ¥44 Billion in Financial Losses from Specialized Fraud Cases in Japan in 2023

Subhead: Increase in False Billing and Other Fraud Schemes Targeting Particularly the Elderly

The National Police Agency (NPA) reported a record-breaking ¥44 billion in financial losses from specialized fraud cases in Japan in 2023, a 19.0% increase from the previous year 1. These fraud cases involve deceptive means such as false billing, identity theft, and other tactics that trick victims into losing their money.

Record-Breaking Financial Losses

  • Total financial losses reached ¥44 billion, a ¥8.6 billion increase from the previous year.
  • The daily average financial loss amounted to ¥120.9 million.
  • The average loss per case surged to approximately ¥2.4 million, a ¥193,000 increase from the year before.

Demographics and Participation of Young Fraudsters

  • The majority of victims were aged 65 or older, comprising 78.3% of all cases 1.
  • 1,594 individuals who received money from victims were under 20 years old.
  • Among this group, 319 (or 20%) were young men.

Overseas Fraudsters

  • The police apprehended 69 fraudsters involved in 12 cases who were later transferred to Japan from the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam following the discovery of their overseas bases.

Definition of Specialized Fraud

The NPA defines “specialized fraud” as crimes where fraudsters build trust with victims using non-face-to-face means (such as telephone) and manipulate victims into sending money to designated bank accounts 2. These fraudulent activities are often carried out systematically by organized and quasi-organized crime groups.

Most Common Types of Fraud

False Billing Fraud

  1. Accounted for 27.0% of all fraud cases in 2023.
  2. ¥13.8 billion in financial losses, a 35.7% increase from the previous year.
  3. Approximately 43.8% of cases began with a pop-up display on the victim’s website.

Refund Fraud

targeted elderly women and primarily involved fraudsters deceiving people by promising to return medical bills or insurance premiums.

Ope ore Sage (It’s me Scams)

targeted elderly women and involved fraudsters impersonating family members to solicit funds.

  1. The National Police Agency, press release, January 2024. ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. This definition aligns with the Fraudulent Transactions Control Act Article 2(vi), as amended in 2019. ↩︎