According to Japan‘s Asahi Shimbun, in 2025, Japan‘s losses from various “fraud schemes” totaled 324.1 billion yen (100 yen = about 4.5 yuan), increasing to 1.6 times from 2024, setting an all-time high.
On February 12, according to the type of “fancy fraud” announced by the Japanese Police Department, there were various new types of fraud including social media investment fraud, romantic fraud, and more. There were 9,538 investment fraud cases conducted through social media, resulting in losses of 127.4 billion yen, an increase of about 46% compared to 2024 year-on-year. There were 5,604 romantic fraud cases, resulting in losses of 55.2 billion yen, an increase of about 38% compared to 2024 year-on -year.
Fraud cases involving impersonating police officers to defraud money under the name of investigation have skyrocketed, with more than 10,000 such cases and losses of up to 98.5 billion yen. Fraudsters often contact victims via international phone calls, induce them to use social media for video calls, and then lie that their accounts have been used for crime, “If you want to prove your innocence, you have to submit assets,” causing many victims to be cheated out of all their savings. The average loss in such fraud cases is about 9.1 million yen, with victims ranging in age from 10 to over 80 years old. The phenomenon of victim rejuvenation is relatively obvious, with many cases implementing wire transfers through online banking.
The average amount involved in investment scams carried out through social media is 13.42 million yen per case, and people under 40 represent one-third of the victims. These scams are mainly carried out through social platforms. The scammers often impersonate real investors or public institutions, lure victims to social platforms through ads or private messages, and then carry out the scams. In cases of romantic scams, people aged 40 to 69 represent three-quarters of the total amount lost, and the scammers mostly contact the victims through dating software.
The Japanese police authorities believe that after the COVID-19 pandemic, the “non-face-to-face” lifestyle became more widespread, and the rapid development of social platform software and online payments became important reasons for the surge in fraud cases. Using online banking to transfer money, bank employees often found it difficult to dissuade in time. At the same time, the methods of fraudulent groups were also constantly upgrading. They used artificial intelligence to create images and text content and set up automatic voice response systems, with related technologies helping to overcome language and regional barriers.
The Japanese police said they would strengthen their attacks on criminal groups and strengthen cooperation with Southeast Asian countries concerned, while sending more undercover agents posing as “black workers” to assist in investigations. In addition, they will also promote fraud prevention applications with the function of intercepting international phone calls, in order to curb the proliferation of fraudulent crime.