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John Dillinger wrote:Where are some places in Tokyo I need to avoid or be extra careful in, and what tips do you have to avoid being pick-pocketed or scammed?
John Dillinger wrote:what tips do you have to avoid being pick-pocketed or scammed?
Taro Toporific wrote:John Dillinger wrote:Where are some places in Tokyo I need to avoid or be extra careful in, and what tips do you have to avoid being pick-pocketed or scammed?
2) There is one particular asshole in Ueno (and sometimes Shibuya) who approaches nama-noobs pretending to be a cop and demands to see their passport. It just a wacko power trip. Always demand ID of cops or offer to walk over to police box confirm they're legit. You have to show ID to a real cop but this one fake cop is just bizarre since he not even looking for your money--just "power" over gaijin.
Russell wrote:Taro, this an almost 6-year old article from Debito. Is the fake cop still around, and are there some recent online sources / stories about him?
Taro Toporific wrote:John Dillinger wrote:what tips do you have to avoid being pick-pocketed or scammed?
Oh I forgot to mention that are several pick-pocket gangs that specially work the Narita Express and Skyliner from the airport targeting only Westerner's luggage. The pick-pocket gangs' reasoning (which is correct) is that the jet-lagged n00bs will not even notice money missing from their hand luggage until they wake up the next day after a lo-o-ong sleep and then won't know how to report their loss or even where/when it happened.
The best pick-pocket scam are the thieves who ride the Kyoto-to-Tokyo shinkansen and only target ALTs and JETs returning home at the end of their one year contract. Returning home with a year's worth of cash savings is a very temping (and baka) target.
Taro Toporific wrote:Russell wrote:Taro, this an almost 6-year old article from Debito. Is the fake cop still around, and are there some recent online sources / stories about him?
Yes, I read about it happening to gaijin of Reddit from time to time. Interestingly, I have had the pleasure of fake Japanese cops encounters years ago.
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C.S.B.
I lived at least 25 years in Japan before I got stopped by real cops for being gaijin, a occasional problem other gaijin complain about. My first real police stop was very odd: I was already on the train platform leaving Narita (meaning I have just been checked by Immigration and Customs).
A few months later (2010-ish) I got stopped in Ueno coming off the Skyliner by what turned out to be a fake cop. Between 2011 and 2017, a couple of different fake cops tried to stop me in Ueno a half dozen times (and once in Shibuya)---Every time I was carrying luggage.
Now that live near Kamata, the largest train station nearest Hanada Airport, I get the hairy eyeballs from the cops wanting to do a shokumu shitsumon/stop-and-frisk several times a month, meh. I just give 'em my best Jedi mind trick: "Daijobu" (These aren't the gaijin you're looking for). Then, I roll past them without stopping.
Different kind of fake cop scam:
https://soranews24.com/2019/12/10/ibara ... he-police/
Old fake cop cases:
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments ... ice_today/
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments ... e/cfup87l/
https://japantoday.com/category/feature ... n-shinjuku
https://jp.usembassy.gov/security-messa ... t-tokyo-3/
yanpa wrote:Personally right now I'd stay away from anywhere likely to be infested with tourists from the Middle Kingdom.
(Nothing personal like, but a while back in pre-Corona days I ended up with The Spawn at a children's playpark close to a famous tourist attraction, and there was a delightful little boy from said locale with a massively runny nose and a doubtful looking snotrag which he happily threw in front of him while sliding down slides etc. and I decided early egress would be advisable).
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