Fraud Alert from Embassy of Belgium in Japan

Recently several Belgians have been victim of criminals who sell financial products via the internet/phone. This phenomenon is known as “cold calling,” about which you will find more information on the website of the “Financial Services Agency” (FSA), the Japanese regulator of financial markets: www.fsa.go.jp/en/reference/cold/index.html. In many of these cases

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Japanese Government warns ministries for email scam

Japan’s cybersecurity watchdog has warned ministries and agencies of a scam in which perpetrators register false email addresses, similar to official government ones, in the hope they receive mails with mistyped addresses, officials said Tuesday. The government has confirmed that five emails were sent in fiscal 2018 to such addresses

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Japanese police uncovered record number of money laundering cases

Japanese police have uncovered a record number of money laundering cases, some of which involved international criminal networks using bank accounts in the country, a new report shows. Incidents of money laundering rose about 40% on the year to 511 in 2018, topping 500 for the first time in data

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Record number of foreigners in Japan lose residency in 2018

A record 832 foreigners living in Japan were stripped of their residency status in 2018, more than double from the year before as the government tightens immigration regulations, authorities said. Almost 70 percent of the total consisted of “students” or “technical trainees” who ran afoul of the law by not

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Crime rate in first half of 2019 dropped in Japan

According to Japanese police department, the number of crimes continued to decline in Japan for the first half of 2019 and the full-year forecast expected to reach lowest postwar level for the fifth consecutive year. In the first six months of 2019 year, crimes dropped nearly 9% from previous year,

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Japanese authorities found fraud linked to tourist tax rebate program

The Japanese authorities have found a surge in tax evasion involving the consumption tax rebate program for foreign visitors and tourists on short term visa category. Fraudulent claims by Japanese businesses linked to tourist rebates totaled more than 1.9 billion yen, or about 18 million dollars. That’s four times more

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Japanese police revised wiretapping regulations

The Japanese police have revised their wiretapping regulations to enable investigators to listen in on phone conversations at police headquarters from June 1 without the need to go to telecom carriers’ facilities. Under the previous rules, investigators had to travel to such facilities in urban areas to wiretap, and were

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Warning on rising motor vehicle fraud in Japan

By Embassy of the Republic of Kenya in Tokyo-Japan This Embassy has recently been inundated by requests from many Kenyans seeking assistance to recover monies allegedly paid to unscrupulous Japanese Companies for the purchase of second hand Motor vehicles. In trying to assist the unfortunate victims, the Mission has uncovered

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Warning E-mails thought to be related to a bank transfer scam that uses the name of the Immigration Bureau of Japan

by Immigration Bureau of Japan The other day, we were informed that someone “received an e-mail with instructions to make a bank transfer in cash to the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau.” The contents of the e-mail were as follows. ・ “Currently, at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, we are assisting

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Warning against Scams Using the Bank of Japan’s Name

The Bank of Japan is warning the public about scams using the Bank’s name in attempts to fraudulently obtain money, property, or personal financial information such as bank account information. In some of these scams, fraudsters solicit investments on a bogus website involving the Bank’s name. The Bank is not

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