“It’s me” Fraud

[Salty]

A friend of ours fell victim to the It’s me fraud – losing 5.5 m yen. The perps were smooth and had her completely convinced that she was speaking with her son.

They had just a few personal information items – her name, name of her son, that the son had children, that he was an employee of a company, and her home phone number (which could be obtained thru directory assistance). The rest of this information might be obtained from employment records, insurance, or even the city office.

She mistook the voice on the phone as that of her son because the caller `had a cold`. She didn`t seek outside opinions – and even that of her husband, because the `son` pleaded with her to not divulge the nature of his transgression.

The story was that he (the son) had taken up a `side business` while still employed. He was selling home water filtration units on the side, and was taking in a 70k/month profit, which he needed to pay for his kids schooling. Most recently he landed a big contract for commercial units to be installed in a known-name restaurant chain, and he had `borrowed` money from his company to pay the supplier of those units. He would make it all back plus a tidy profit in a month, as they were installed. But his company was to be audited, and his unapproved borrowing would be discovered unless he returned the funds immediately. Of course mother (our friend) agreed to come to his rescue by cashing out a time deposit.

The son was to meet her to pick up the cash, but at the last moment needed to send a substitute because an audit planning meeting had been called, and he was afraid to miss it. Plus, he said that she shouldn`t call him since he would be in that meeting and didn`t want to draw attention to himself.

The subordinate couldn`t find the mother`s house, so she agreed to meet at a known location. While she was going there, the perps rang her home phone reputedly – apparently to confirm that she was on her way, and to ensure that her husband was still at home (and thus they wouldn`t be observed), hanging up each time without speaking.

At the delivery point the `son` called again to reassure her that the pickup person was legitimate and that she should indeed hand over the cash. Once she returned home and learned of the silent phone calls she then called her son, who said that he wasn`t involved in any such issue, and asked that she call the police.

She of course did then call the police only to learn that this is a common fraud. Apparently she will not be out the full 5.5m, as there is an insurance program for fraud victims that will return as much as 30% of her loss.

[chibaka]

I heard from a friend last week that her father got stung, not with the "it's me" fraud, but someone calling to "sell investments". These investments apparently offered great returns, and naturally, it was the last day of the offer so must act fast. Bye bye millions of yen.
(I think 10.....)

He also got caught by someone claiming to be buying unwanted clothes for charity. He agreed and offered some old tat, only to be told/encouraged that his offering wasn't enough. By the end of the conversation (on his doorstep) he had handed over clothes, jewelry, watches etc, received a very small payment, and off went the con man.

In his defense he's 84, but hell, this is happening way too often, is no-one aware of this?

[Coligny]

Got a phone call to the bunker from someone claiming that he located his stolen ipad in the bunker. Mominlaw finding this highly unlikely told them to bugger off and ringed me on the spot. We went full lockdown ready to call Secom at the first unwanted visit. Nothing since... But I wonder since when they pay for the secom contract for 0 return as of today... Pretty sure it would have paid for quite a few guns and ammo...

[Wage Slave]

I heard from a friend last week that her father got stung, not with the "it's me" fraud, but someone calling to "sell investments". These investments apparently offered great returns, and naturally, it was the last day of the offer so must act fast. Bye bye millions of yen.
(I think 10.....)

He also got caught by someone claiming to be buying unwanted clothes for charity. He agreed and offered some old tat, only to be told/encouraged that his offering wasn't enough. By the end of the conversation (on his doorstep) he had handed over clothes, jewelry, watches etc, received a very small payment, and off went the con man.

In his defense he's 84, but hell, this is happening way too often, is no-one aware of this?

These people should be hunted down like dogs.

[yanpa]

Apparently she will not be out the full 5.5m, as there is an insurance program for fraud victims that will return as much as 30% of her loss.

Now that sound like another scam waiting to happen.

[Samurai_Jerk]

this is happening way too often, is no-one aware of this?

People are very aware of it and there all kinds of campaigns to spread that awareness. For example I ride the bus fairly often and I regularly hear recorded announcements warning people not to fall for this and to contact the police if they get that kind of call. I guess they do it on the bus since it seems a high percentage of the riders are senior citizens. Unfortunately there are still plenty of people who don't have the ability to realize it's a scam till it's too late. Old people are a great target for these scumbags because they tend to have a lot of savings and diminished mental faculties. My uncle back in the US is brain damaged from a motorcycle accident nearly 30 years ago. He's fallen for Nigerian email scams and the like over the years. At least in his case the family has control of his money because of his disability so he hasn't actually lost anything. However, it's led to a few fights over that money since he's really believed that he had millions coming to him. He's has given them contact information and received lots of phone calls at all hours asking about his banking details and harassing him for not moving forward with his promise to send them money.

[Takechanpoo]

if you have dotardy almost-dimentia parents, brothers or relatives, just cancel the contract of landline phone.
and they can not do the fraud. plain and simple
jiji and baba still use landline phone.

[Wage Slave]

if you have dotardy almost-dimentia parents, brothers or relatives, just cancel the contract of landline phone.
and they can not do the fraud. plain and simple
jiji and baba still use landline phone.

As if

By the end of the conversation (on his doorstep) he had handed over clothes, jewelry, watches etc, received a very small payment, and off went the con man.

And anyway, don't you think that a mobile phone could be used just as well? You are imbecile again - please to making more effort to trolling. Or is not main point.

[Coligny]

if you have dotardy almost-dimentia parents, brothers or relatives, just cancel the contract of landline phone.
and they can not do the fraud. plain and simple
jiji and baba still use landline phone.

Or restrict the allowed incoming callers list...

Dood, it' s like the second smart thing you said in less than a week... Something wrong ? You out of horse tranquilizer ?

[Takechanpoo]

in the case of mobile phone, they cant know the owners attributes.
they use old telephone directories to find their targets. especially ones registered by a womans name they DO like.
i dont think cancelling landline phone perfectly prevents from ore ore fraud, but you will can get certain effect.

[matsuki]

Not Japan but my father has fallen victim twice in the past year to cold calling scams claiming to be charities...they take down your credit card info for "payment." Both times, my mother was able to cancel the card before anything happened but it's a huge hassle and stress to deal with.

Even though their number is registered on some sort of "do not call registry," charities are exempt (Fuuuuu) so they regularly get these types of spam calls at all times of the day. I'm trying to get them to upgrade their phones (or change providers to one that has better reception) and get rid of the landline. Take is right when it comes to landline numbers being listed and all the mess that comes with it.

[Coligny]

Not Japan but my father has fallen victim twice in the past year to cold calling scams claiming to be charities...they take down your credit card info for "payment." Both times, my mother was able to cancel the card before anything happened but it's a huge hassle and stress to deal with.

Does she also tie his shoes for him in the morning ?

[matsuki]

My guess is he was boozin at the time of the calls but either way, I think his brain cell count is down since he retired so it's only a matter of time before he needs someone to tie his shoes. Meanwhile, he's managing their rather significant investments....

Sent from my SO-03F using Tapatalk

[Wage Slave]

Not Japan but my father has fallen victim twice in the past year to cold calling scams claiming to be charities...they take down your credit card info for "payment." Both times, my mother was able to cancel the card before anything happened but it's a huge hassle and stress to deal with.

Does she also tie his shoes for him in the morning ?

And that's the point really. Once someone's capacity has gone then taking away a landline might help a bit but the fuckers who are happy to take advantage of someone's childlike innocence will always have plenty of other ways to get at them. The only solution is to make sure the person is in a safe, monitored, protected environment where they have no need to deal with money and that all direct access to bank accounts etc is removed. The problem is that costs serious money and manpower.

Charities too have become greedy and unethical, often happy to use subcontracted companies to raise money on their behalf. The full weight of the law should be thrown at the owners of those companies who overstep and fire and brimstone rained on the heads of people who deliberately and knowingly set out to con vulnerable old folk.

[Wage Slave]

My guess is he was boozin at the time of the calls but either way, I think his brain cell count is down since he retired so it's only a matter of time before he needs someone to tie his shoes. Meanwhile, he's managing their rather significant investments....

Sent from my SO-03F using Tapatalk

Warning signs left, right and centre. You guys have some important and difficult decisions to make. It is always much easier to get power of attorney while the person still has some residual capacity. Leave it till they are gone completely and it's much much harder in my experience. Don't delay would be my strong advice.

[matsuki]

My guess is he was boozin at the time of the calls but either way, I think his brain cell count is down since he retired so it's only a matter of time before he needs someone to tie his shoes. Meanwhile, he's managing their rather significant investments....

Sent from my SO-03F using Tapatalk

Warning signs left, right and centre. You guys have some important and difficult decisions to make. It is always much easier to get power of attorney while the person still has some residual capacity. Leave it till they are gone completely and it's much much harder in my experience. Don't delay would be my strong advice.

Mother is still totally with it so ultimately, I have to bow to her wishes in this regard....but yeah, already on her case to remove his access/control to things. I honestly don't even want him driving based on the shit I've heard but what can you do when he refuses to give anything up. Overall, he's in that gray area where he's fine some days, out of it other days, and in total denial that there is anything wrong with him. "It's called getting old" is his usual response...but it's more than age and he's got liver disease and stints...so he shouldn't even have salad dressing with wine in it, let alone be drinking but he seems set on a booze suicide. Cue drunkard injun music.

[Wage Slave]

It's hard I know - been there and done it twice or perhaps one and a half times. Persistence and determination are the keys. Good luck.

[Salty]

in the case of mobile phone, they cant know the owners attributes.
they use old telephone directories to find their targets. especially ones registered by a womans name they DO like.
i dont think cancelling landline phone perfectly prevents from ore ore fraud, but you will can get certain effect.

Yes this was the case this time. This woman thought it odd that the `son` didn`t call her cell phone - which would have been a free call, but instead called the land-line. But once she was convinced that it was her son, she was locked in.

[legion]

I think a big part of the problem in Japan is all the awareness campaigns are aimed at potential victims. They should run a few that emphasize how these scams are pulled by scum, and scum go to jail then die alone.

I knew a guy (65 year old bachelor) who was scammed out of a few million yen of his retirement bonus by a Chinese hostess. What worried me was he had been in a senior role at my company, I'd had a few run ins with him because I thought he was a short sighted idiot, but as far as the company was concerned he was fit for purpose. Purpose being doing the same thing for 40 years in ever decreasing circles.

[dimwit]

You know, if people used a "Power of Attorney" with some of their senile oldies, it would reduce a large number of scams.

My wife's parents were not very wealthy and my wife used to supplement their pensions by giving them about 150,000 a month. However, my crazy mother-in-law used to blow money on bogus vitamin suppliments and expensive kimonos that she never wore. The icing on the cake was this 'air filter' she bought for 500,000. It looked like an amp from a death metal band and it did absolutely nothing. I'm pretty sure the scammer picked it up in a rubbish dump. As a result of this , my wife cut my mother in laws allowance.

[Samurai_Jerk]

You know, if people used a "Power of Attorney" with some of their senile oldies, it would reduce a large number of scams.

That's not necessarily an easy thing to do. Legally it can be tough when people are borderline. However, emotionally it can be even harder for people because their parents will often fight it tooth and nail and it can really damage relationships. When they're young everyone says they want their family to step in when the time comes but once they're actually at that point they can't accept reality.

[Wage Slave]

You know, if people used a "Power of Attorney" with some of their senile oldies, it would reduce a large number of scams.

That's not necessarily an easy thing to do. Legally it can be tough when people are borderline. However, emotionally it can be even harder for people because their parents will often fight it tooth and nail and it can really damage relationships. When they're young everyone says they want their family to step in when the time comes but once they're actually at that point they can't accept reality.

You are absolutely right on both counts. In our case the fact we had a good lawyer who had overseen the family's affairs for many years and an understanding doctor who knew the family well counted for a hell of a lot. Plus we were only dealing with one parent.

[dimwit]

Oh I am well aware of that. In fact, my mother-in-law was so domineering a POA would have been impossible. We were just fortunate that she didn't have very much money to blow. When she died the scammers tried to latch onto us, claiming that she owned them money but we just told them to fuck off or we would go to the police. After that they stopped calling.

[inflames]

Basically cops don't do anything about crimes like this - there's so much of it and it is quite difficult to track.

Charities and nonprofits are terrible too - they were calling my mom when she was in the hospital, on a ventilator (I took care of them after a few days though).

An ex-girlfriend had a grandmother who fell for the vitamin scams, but after that the mom basically took away her cash card.

[kurogane]

........... we just told them to fuck off or we would go to the police. After that they stopped calling.

One time I got Wan Giri-ed I wanted to Meet and Beat but my gf came up with a very clever idea: I offered to meet the guy outside of the local police box (to make us both feel 'comfortable'). For somebody that had been quite persistent and quite menacing that did the trick in one call. It sort of freaks me out how reticent too many Japanese can be to call the police, esp. since with these fraudsters it seems to work like Kryptonite.

[Coligny]

You guys are assuming the kids are not a threat on their own...

[Samurai_Jerk]

You guys are assuming the kids are not a threat on their own...

Nobody's assuming anything.

[Wage Slave]

Absolutely not. There's a real and growing problem with that too.

Chief villains on both counts are the baby boomers, attempting to extract what they deem to be their fair share of inheritance from elderly parents whose property prices have ballooned. The latest report from the KPMG fraud barometer – published a few weeks ago - revealed the value of relative upon relative fraud has jumped 300 per cent in a year from £2.1 million in the first six months of 2015 up from £544,000 in the same period in 2014. More than three quarters of culprits identified are over 45 and the vast majority of victims are their elderly parents.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/11830091/The-Great-Baby-Boomer-Inheritance-Grab.html

[Samurai_Jerk]

Absolutely not. There's a real and growing problem with that too.

Chief villains on both counts are the baby boomers, attempting to extract what they deem to be their fair share of inheritance from elderly parents whose property prices have ballooned. The latest report from the KPMG fraud barometer – published a few weeks ago - revealed the value of relative upon relative fraud has jumped 300 per cent in a year from £2.1 million in the first six months of 2015 up from £544,000 in the same period in 2014. More than three quarters of culprits identified are over 45 and the vast majority of victims are their elderly parents.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/11830091/The-Great-Baby-Boomer-Inheritance-Grab.html

I'm sure those baby boomers will do their best to make sure their kids get their fair share.

[kurogane]

Yes, sharing and caring has always been their hallmark......... Greedy fucking parasites.

If it weren't so mean and demographically untenable I would say let's start the cull; and I technically qualify, though not by the Generation X Rule.