Japanese man who didn’t know how banks work defrauded out of 21 million yen

But now he knows, and knowing is half the battle.

We all have certain gaps in our knowledge that are widely known to others. They say even Einstein couldn’t drive a car because he found it too complicated, though in fairness, cars were a lot more complicated when he was growing up than they are now, what with the hand cranks to start the engines and all.

Anyway, the point is everyone has their blind spots, and we can only hope they don’t emerge in embarrassing or damaging situations… or both, as happened to one man recently in the city of Otsu, Shiga Prefecture. According to the Shiga Prefectural Police, on 5 December, a 53-year-old office worker received phone calls and video calls over the popular Japanese messaging app Line from men claiming to work for a major telecom company and a man posing as an officer from the Hyogo Prefectural Police.

The victim was told that 40 million yen was deposited and then withdrawn from a bank account in his name, implicating him in a potential crime. They then told him they needed to confirm the serial numbers on the banknotes in his account to know for sure. To do this, he would have to transfer the money from his bank account to theirs, so they could examine his bills and then transfer them back.

Now, it’s possible these con artists were remarkably smooth talkers, and the shock of being confronted by “the police,” among other daily stresses of being an office worker, frazzled him enough that he momentarily forgot that bank transfers don’t actually involve sending literal cash from one physical location to another. It’s unlikely though, because he made three separate transfers over two days.

▼ He could have thought banks were full of little ceramic pigs with everyone’s names on them.

It wasn’t reported how he finally realized he’d been had, but it was probably after none of the money he sent was being returned. He then contacted the real police, who are currently investigating it as a case of “special fraud” (tokushu sagi), referring to scams that randomly target people over the phone or online.

The victim did get a fair bit of ribbing in online comments, but a lot of people also lamented that someone with a rather vague understanding of how banks work has more money than they do.

“Did he really think he was sending physical bills?”
“How can someone with that level of intelligence have so much money?”
“Just use the banknote teleporter.”
“It must have been an inheritance.”
“The only people who ever call my telephone are scammers pretending to be the power company.”
“When you transfer money, they roll up the bills really tight and send them through the wires.”
“How does this guy have more money than me?”
“Maybe he has an old-fashioned bank that still uses pneumatic tubes.”
“This fraud certainly is… special…”

Based on reports, this victim seems to be an average adult with an apparently well-paying job. He just seems to have thought everyone’s money is kept in stacks of cash in a bunch of boxes, and perhaps when you use an ATM, a little robot whizzes over and takes out whatever you need.

But I say let those without ignorance in any area of knowledge throw the first stone. I, for one, don’t fully understand how a refrigerator works. I’m just lucky the only thing that makes me vulnerable to are prank calls.

Source: Kyoto Shimbun Digital, Itai News
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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