Bank fraud cases net record Y48.69 bil in 2013

Bank fraud cases netted a record 48.693 billion yen in 2013, the National Police Agency said in a report Thursday.

The figure was up 12.3 billion yen over 2012, the NPA said. The biggest jump was 52.5% in the "ore-ore" scams to 17 billion yen, despite numerous campaigns to warn elderly people about con men calling them, pretending to be their son or grandson in trouble, and asking for money.

Other crimes included bogus salesmen calling victims on the phone and talking them into buying fake stocks or investing in non-existent businesses.

The NPA said the average loss for a single incident also rose to 4.37 million yen.

Banks were able to prevent a grand total of 6,500 cases of fraud from occurring, saving 1.93 billion yen overall, TV Asahi reported.

Banks are working with police to be on the lookout for possible scams whenever elderly clients come to the bank. However, banks said that elderly clients often get angry when staff question them about huge amounts of money they wish to transfer.

© Japan Today