Social Media Investment Scams Net Over ¥10 Billion in April 2024 Alone

According to the National Police Agency, there were 2,508 reported incidents of social media investment fraud across Japan between January and April 2024, with the financial losses reaching ¥33.4 billion. The number of incidents was more than six times higher and the value of the losses more than eight times greater than the same period the previous year. The problem became more serious toward the end of the period, with losses of ¥9.8 billion in March and ¥11.5 billion in April.

In social media investment fraud, unauthorized images of famous investors and celebrities are used in advertisements posted on various social networks to encourage investment in fake schemes. People who click on those adverts out of interest are then repeatedly contacted by scammers via messages on Line and Instagram to build up their trust and trick them into investing. It is becoming a major social problem, with one recent case alone resulting in the loss of more than ¥100 million.

The agency analyzed 808 incidents that were reported in April this year, revealing that both men and women were equally susceptible to the fraud, with 50.4% and 49.6%, respectively. At 26.9%, the age group most commonly defrauded were those in their sixties. This was followed by 24.4% in their fifties and 20.5% in their seventies.

The amount of money most commonly lost was “less than ¥5 million,” with 44.3%. In contrast though, there were a number of cases where significantly large amounts were lost and nearly 40% of cases involved people being conned out of more than ¥10 million. In April alone, there were 11 reported cases where losses exceeded ¥100 million.

At 55.8%, the majority of victims were drawn into the fake investment schemes through “banner advertisements.” A further 17.1% received “direct messages” and 10.5% got “group invitations.”

Men were mainly targeted through Line, followed by Facebook and Instagram. For women, scammers most commonly targeted them via Instagram, with Line and investment websites close behind. The majority of scammers then communicated with the victims through Line, getting them to believe in the fake investment schemes. Ultimately, 90.2% of victims passed money to the scammers via “bank transfer” and 7.5% did so through “crypto assets.”

Another common type of social media fraud is “romance scamming,” where scammers endear themselves to victims and build up a close relationship through repeated contact, before eventually tricking them out of money. According to the Agency, there were 832 reported cases of this type of fraud between January and April 2024, with losses totaling ¥8.4 billion.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)