TOKYO (TR) – An elderly woman was swindled out of approximately 49 million yen after being targeted by a scammer posing as a Tokyo police officer, reports Nippon News Network (Oct. 16).
In late August, the victim, who is in her 80s, received a phone call from a man identifying himself as “Nishino” from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.
“We need to investigate whether the money in your account is stolen funds from a fraud case, so please withdraw your cash,” the caller instructed her.
Convinced by the ruse, the woman visited ATMs on a near-daily basis to drain her account. The scammer then contacted her again, ordering her to leave the cash outside so it could be “examined” and promising he would return it later.
Following his orders, the victim left bundles of cash near the mailbox of her residence on three separate occasions — first dropping off 19 million yen, followed by 14 million yen, and finally 16 million yen. The staggering total of roughly 49 million yen was swiftly carried off by an unknown individual.
The massive theft finally came to light when the woman read a news article about a similar scam, realized she had been duped, and contacted the actual police for advice.
Authorities are currently tracking the whereabouts of the suspect.