Shinjuku Snack Bar Transvestite Scam

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: 6 accused of spirited con job in Shinjuku
Police on Wednesday arrested six people believed to have robbed dozens of people by posing as bar staff and customers--and even cross-dressing--to dupe their drunken victims. Hiroyuki Kamisuzuki, 41, and five others, both men and women, were arrested on suspicion of robbing a 27-year-old man at a "snack" bar in Tokyo's Kabikicho entertainment district on May 27. Police said Kamisuzuki wore women's clothes, a wig and make-up and approached the target who was alone and drunk on a street after midnight. Kamisuzuki lured the man to the snack bar, called Tina, on the 10th floor of a building. Inside, the five others were disguised as customers, a bartender and a hostess, police said. To make the victim ease his guard, the group called Kamisuzuki "Mama-san." They then encouraged him to drink vodka and other kinds of alcohol until he was so drunk that he passed out. They stole 10,000 yen from the man's wallet along with other belongings, police said. The Shinjuku Police Station suspects the group has pulled off the scam a few dozen times since the summer of last year. Someone else operated the bar as a normal snack bar until midnight. But Kamisuzuki and the others would "reopen" the bar nearly every night after midnight to attempt their scam, police said.

[gomichild]

That seems to me to be a lot of expense and effort for little profit. The silly fools would have been better off just opening the bar and selling drinks.

[Choeki]

They then encouraged him to drink vodka and other kinds of alcohol until he was so drunk that he passed out. They stole 10,000 yen from the man's wallet along with other belongings, police said.

Isn't that about the right price for a "snack" in Kabukicho anyway? If he managed to finish an entire bottle of Vodka, he may have gotten a discount in the end...

[Mulboyne]

They would have been pretty cheesed off with only 10,000 yen. It's pretty rare for even a drunk to enter a snack in Kabukicho with so little cash on him. If it's true that they have pulled the same scam many times before then I guess they must have hit the jackpot a few times along the way. It's possible that they stumbled across the idea while running a genuine bar when a customer fell asleep on them with a wad of cash in his wallet.

[succubusqueen]

they tried to rip off a poor bastard who only had 10,000 yen, actually the "bad guys" got ripped off instead!

[Mulboyne]

I thought the interesting point was that the arrest was made on account of the guy who lost 10,000 yen. That seems to mean that all the guys who were scammed before either didn't complain or else couldn't recall where they had been. So the scammers lost out in two ways: The didn't get much from the victim and yet he still fingered them for the arrest.

[Greji]

I thought the interesting point was that the arrest was made on account of the guy who lost 10,000 yen. That seems to mean that all the guys who were scammed before either didn't complain or else couldn't recall where they had been. So the scammers lost out in two ways: The didn't get much from the victim and yet he still fingered them for the arrest.

Say, this scam jam didn't happen to be in and around the Golden Gai and the gals have Aussie accents? If so, I think I've been rolled, mugged, spindled, folded and mutilated in that place at least a couple of times.