Crypto Scammers ‘Pick Up Older Japanese Singles’

Crypto scammers target older Japanese singles on social media and dating apps. But middle-aged Japanese lonely hearts also find themselves in the crosshairs of scammers. And some scammers appear to be targeting even younger individuals.

In a column for Nikkan Gendai, financial adviser Kuroiwa Yasushi wrote:

“Single elderly people are lonely. I understand that. On the other hand, [crypto scammers] that prey on them are now rampant. The victims of crypto scams are now coming forward, one after another.”

Kuroiwa gave the example of one of his clients – a man in his 60s – who contacted him for advice on Bitcoin (BTC). During their conversation, the man revealed that he had been chatting with a “woman” on a dating app. She said she wanted him to invest in BTC via a specific platform.

Lately, dating app-based scammers seem to be directing their victims to fake crypto trading platforms. Once they have control of the victim’s funds, the fraudsters usually cut off contact.

Some also try to trick victims into buying “cryptomining packages” that offer “guaranteed” monthly income. A number of such schemes – in Japan, elsewhere in East Asia and further afield, have been exposed as racketeering or more basic fraud.

Kuroiwa explained that he was eventually able to help the client identify the “suspicious” nature of the “woman” he had been chatting with. But he warned that “single seniors should be cautious” when using chat apps, aware of the growing dangers of “encryption scammers”.

Crypto scammers looking for Japanese lonely hearts – of all ages

Media outlet Nico Video reported that crypto scammers were also preying on younger victims on platforms such as Line, Twitter and Instagram. The outlet reported that the multi-level marketing (MLM) scam masters offered teenagers “guaranteed” profits of up to 40% on small bets.

In many cases, scammers appeared to pose as rich and attractive young men – in an attempt to trick younger women into signing up for “fake” crypto “investment training” sessions.

The media noted that the government responded by increasing the amount of “economic education” it provided to “adolescent and high school students.”

The government’s warning

And the Saga Shimbun reported that a 30-year-old man from Kashima had fallen victim to a crypto scam that had left him out of pocket to the tune of nearly $56,000.

Police officers explained that the man had started chatting with a “Singaporean woman” on a social media platform in mid-December last year.

The woman told him she was “making over $200,000 a month” trading crypto – and convinced him to invest in coins.

The man, police said, bought $56,000 worth of coins and sent them to a trading platform — a total of six transactions. In mid-January, however, problems began to arise. Another person, claiming to be a crypto exchange employee, contacted the man to tell him that his coins had been “frozen”.

The man eventually realized that he did not have access to his money. When he now understood that he had been deceived, he finally sent a complaint to the police.

In 2021, a national watchdog warned men aged 30-49 to be aware of the risks involved when investing in crypto on the advice of strangers.