A woman in her 80s in Aichi Prefecture has described how a man posing as an Ehime prefectural police investigator talked her into reporting her daily schedule, her family situation and her bank balance, then sent her paperwork to sign for a transfer of more than ¥22 million. The case is one of a growing number of frauds in Japan in which callers impersonate police officers.
The call came in August, she said in an interview with CBC Television. The man said he was "Sato" of the Ehime prefectural police's second investigation division, and told her she might be involved in crimes committed by a fraud ring.
He showed what he said was a police ID book over a LINE video call, and she believed him.
“To prove that wasn't true, we went back and forth on various things, and he told me to give him my bank account number, and I even told him how much was in it.”the woman said, in her 80s, Aichi Prefecture
A routine of scheduled reports
The caller told her the account would have to be frozen to prove her innocence. When she refused, he said the numbers on banknotes had to be checked to trace "the flow of money", and that she would need to withdraw her savings and transfer them to an account he designated.
She was also told to report her plans, which the caller called "teitei renraku", or scheduled contact. She told him when she would be out for the day, and she called in the morning and at night.
The calls came when she was alone, she said, and she gave him details of her family as well.
“It was like, 'You haven't told your family, have you? It's fine, isn't it?'”she said of the calls
Asked whether she had thought of consulting her family, she said she had not. "He told me not to," she said. "He showed me this first, over the video call." She was shown a confidentiality pledge.
Property papers to avoid questions at the bank
About two weeks after the calls began, a file marked "important real estate documents" arrived at her home. It stated that she was to transfer a total of more than ¥22 million.
She was told to sign it and take it to the bank, with the money to be treated as a land purchase so that a large withdrawal would not look suspicious.
“He said it would be strange if I just withdrew the money for no reason, so I should make it look like I'd bought land, sign this, and take it to the bank to pay in.”she said
She grew suspicious that the document had no handwritten signature, among other things, and decided not to do as she was asked.