Major banks team up with police to combat special fraud

Japan Times

8 hours ago

Eight major banks have signed an agreement with the National Police Agency to share information on accounts with suspicious activity as part of an ongoing fight against special fraud schemes.
Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and four banks under Resona Holdings entered into the agreement on Wednesday. Earlier this year, Japan Post Bank and PayPay Bank also signed a similar deal.
In special fraud cases, perpetrators typically convince victims to raise their withdrawal limits and make repeated transactions to transfer out large sums of money.
Banks have their own monitoring system that allows them to flag accounts with suspicious activity, such as inward or outward transfers involving unusually large sums.
Under the new agreement, the banks will share information on the accounts they have flagged to the NPA and prefectural police departments so they can take swift action. The police will warn individuals who appear to be victims of fraud while they make efforts to identify and apprehend the fraudsters involved in each of the cases.
In the past, banks first shared information on accounts flagged for suspicious activity with the Financial Services Agency, which then relayed it to the police. A direct collaboration between financial institutions and the police allows for a swifter response in countering special fraud schemes.
Regional banks were the first to enter into such agreements with the police, ahead of major banks.
So far, the effort appears to be bearing fruit: Nearly 70% of 1,866 accounts reported to the police for suspicious activity between January and May turned out to be those belonging to victims of fraud, according to Nikkei. Among those reported, 45 accounts were determined to have been used by fraud syndicates as well.
These developments come at a time when special fraud cases are becoming increasingly common in Japan.
According to the NPA, losses attributed to special fraud cases in 2024 amounted to ¥71.88 billion ($500 million), a record high. Cases included those in which scammers duped victims into paying large sums of money by posing as representatives of government agencies via phone calls or letters.
Fraud conducted through social media — including romance scams, in which swindlers prey on victims online by gaining their affection and trust before convincing them to transmit large sums of money — are also on the rise. Losses attributed to such cases totaled ¥127.19 billion last year.