Elderly Japanese woman loses US$345,000 to scammers, joins gang as they are ‘kind' to her
An elderly Japanese woman who was conned out of 50 million yen (US$345,000) by a gang of fraudsters ended up joining the racketeers who fleeced her because they treated her 'kindly'.
Advertisement
On May 16, police in Fukuoka city, southwestern Japan, said that they had arrested 72-year-old Kumi Kawauchiyama on suspicion of fraud.
The police said she helped a scam gang to defraud 12 million yen out of an 85-year-old woman.
The unidentified victim received a phone call from a member of the gang posing as a police officer who told her she needed to deposit all her assets into a specified account to prove her innocence.
Members of the fraud gang posed as police officers and called their victims to make them part with their assets. Photo: QQ.com
The scammers further instructed her to go to the bank with Kawauchiyama, and tell her bank that Kawauchiyama was her daughter and the owner of the account.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
TikTok murder sends chill through Pakistani influencers: ‘every woman knows this fear'
Since seeing thousands of comments justifying the recent murder of a teenage TikTok star in Pakistan , Sunaina Bukhari is considering abandoning her 88,000 followers. 'In my family, it wasn't an accepted profession at all, but I'd managed to convince them, and even ended up setting up my own business,' she said. Then last week, Sana Yousaf was shot dead outside her house in the capital Islamabad by a man whose advances she had repeatedly rejected, police said. News of the murder led to an outpouring of comments under her final post – her 17th birthday celebration where she blew out the candles on a cake. In between condolence messages, some blamed her for her own death: 'You reap what you sow' or 'it's deserved, she was tarnishing Islam'. Yousaf had racked up more than a million followers on social media, where she shared her favourite cafes, skincare products and traditional shalwar kameez outfits.
South China Morning Post
4 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Grand relaunch of Hong Kong club marred by police raid, money laundering arrest
The grand relaunch of a famous Hong Kong nightclub on Saturday night was marred by a police raid that saw at least one person arrested on suspicion of money laundering. Police and Food and Environmental Hygiene Department officers raided Big Boss Generation (BBG) in Tsim Sha Tsui at around 10pm that night, just hours after the club opened. Photos from the scene showed dozens of uniformed officers entering the club and inspecting customers and staff. The force also arrested a local man on suspicion of money laundering during the raid. Police said the operation was part of a broader effort by the force's organised crime and triad bureau, in cooperation with the department, to patrol entertainment venues in the district. BBG, described as a multiple entertainment venue, opened on the same 56,000 sq ft site at the New Mandarin Plaza in Tsim Sha Tsui East as the once-glamorous Club Bboss, which closed more than a decade ago.
South China Morning Post
8 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China zoo visitors slammed for ‘lucky' tiger hair pulling, warned against provoking beast
A group of tourists who pulled out the hair of a tiger at a zoo in China, thinking it would ward off evil spirits, have sparked outrage online. On June 8, a viral video showed several visitors at a zoo in Liaoning province, northeastern China, pulling hair from the big cat's belly and tail through a metal fence. The incident took place in a special zone where tigers often rest on top of a steel viewing tunnel. In the video, one of the tourists, a woman, is heard saying: 'Let's pull more! Tiger hair keeps evil away and protects the home.' A video of the incident shows tourists plucking tufts of hair from the big cat through a metal fence. Photo: handout A couple of fellow visitors each grab small tufts of hair, and some tie them to their handbags.
