crime

Desperate singles fall for apartment fraud

39 Comments

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39 Comments
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Sounds like those agents "sealed the deal" in more ways than one...

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Nice business strategy. Using emotional people to sell real estate. In an investment, use your brain not your heart. No symphaty for the victims.

0 ( +8 / -8 )

Desperate people fall for simple scams.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

There is a need for communal living.. every single does not need a kitchen and can share space be it in a city or on a farm.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@titaniumdioxide

I agree. i wouldn't buy anything that expensive unless we were married first. The person who was persuaded into buying three properties should have realized it was a scam. What girlfriend/boyfriend tells you to go out and buy property priced so much above its value. Obviously they weren't looking out for your best interests.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Lonely hearts are even more lonely now.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

There is a need for communal living.. every single does not need a kitchen and can share space be it in a city or on a farm.

Not everyone works on the same schedule and even in the animal world, once certain animals get a certain age they start out on their own and build their own nests and start a family.

A few days ago, we read here on JT about the increase of people staying at the parents home longer and longer and the imbalance this is creating. Now this article about those who are trying to move out and stand up on their own, and they get smacked down.

I think the deeper issue lies with how some people in Japan are being brought up. Is common sense not so common here? I have had hard sell tactics thrown at me, but I would never buy a place from someone in the hopes of keeping a relationship going. If that is the case, as the old saying goes: "First comes the ring, then comes marriage, then arrives the baby carriage." They should have kept that in mind before buying any property.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Is this the concept of hormonal fraud?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Did you know if you say the word gullible really slowly it sounds like oranges?

5 ( +5 / -0 )

i have no sympathy for these people. as the saying goes, a fool and his money are soon parted. and i hope the victim who bought three properties at least had a great "time."

0 ( +2 / -2 )

stupid pathetic women. how could they be so naive? they are in 30s and 40s and have missed the boat, fertility wise, and are desperate to find someone, anyone, to marry off with. Lets be honest though, if they were a good catch they would have been married in their twenties...

-13 ( +2 / -15 )

When I saw some of the victims on the news yesterday I really couldn't feel sorry for them. They were saying things like "I didn't want him to hate me so I couldn't turn down his suggestion to buy the condo." I'm sorry, but that is what you get for being so naive. You would figure that if you were looking for a husband through konkatsu that he would be the one putting down the money for the condo, or at least putting his name on the lease as well. I can understand becoming more and more desperate at that age to find a partner and that men should not have to be the only ones responsible for income in a relationship, but what could these people possibly think they were gaining from a marriage where the other partner doesn't have money to put forward, let alone pressures you into making a decision like that? A fool and their money are parted easily.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Im in love whit you! Can you buy a condo? Yeah right !

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Real estate agents exploiting people's emotions to rip them off. Well, there's something new!

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Lawsuits seem to be a way to protect the ignorant from themselves.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Zero sympathy for the victims - caveat emptor. Buying dinner or paying for a weekend onsen trip to get some action - sure, I've done it. Buying property - hmm, way beyond imagination.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Not surprised! Have you been to some of the real estate agency lately? Some of them are like host/hostesses clubs. I went to one small place that had two desks with 8 young early 20-something guys all with big hair, reeking of cigarettes and coffee. It was like the host club day job. They tried the bait and switch saying all the places listed outside were gone, but offered only high residences after fishing for my profession. Another would only have very young pretty girls show me the places taken me to scenic route to the residence to view. I didn't mind at first, but they were always walking me through red light areas or talking about how often they come to this area in their freetime.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

no sympathy , you buy a place for your own investment so use the brain.. btw nothing is wrong being a single with your own place.. communal living is not a good fit for many people.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

How can some people be so stupid!!! Arrrrgh! They can not call themselves victim if they are that stupid!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Will this be the new "hey it's me" ore ore fraud for those in their 30's?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Dumb! It's quite sad that people are so desperate they even use an online dating service. It's even more sad that these same people allow themselves to be scammed. I don't condone the scammers actions, but people have got to wake up! When it comes to the internet, if it seems too good to be true, it is! "Hi! I'm writing to you from Africa to offer you millions of dollars if you give me your bank account details.........." Der!

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Some posters seemed to be missing the point entirely. There's nothing wrong with using a online dating service, it works for some it doesn't work for others. The key word here is FRAUD. Just because someone is looking for a relationship doesn't mean they are free to be an open victim of fraud.

Fraud (noun): wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.

The people here were victims of fraud no matter if you think of the victim.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I misread "singleton" as "simpleton", but I'm not sure the mistake is mine. Unless JapanToday knows for a fact these people were all only children this is a very odd use of the term.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

This type of sales method is more common than non-Japanese think. I was a manager for a company whose sales team were all women. I learned over time that their means of bringing me customers was not limited to activities out of bed.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Singles looking for love and a friendly face talking to you about the possibilities in a new neighborhood. It evokes a sense of security knowing that other person has a plan, and a you of course want to be part of that plan. That's called salesmanship, I would bet some the 'victims' involved have few intimate interpersonal relationships outside of their immediate family.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

This should be an opportunity to create case law preventing people being scammed. What do politicians actually do?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

If the victims were in their 65's+ then I'd say that there could be grounds for intentional fraudulent behaviour taking place, but 30s and 40s? I think these people should have known better..

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@kimuzukashiiiii

stupid pathetic women. how could they be so naive? they are in 30s and 40s and have missed the boat, fertility wise, and are desperate to find someone, anyone, to marry off with. Lets be honest though, if they were a good catch they would have been married in their twenties...

I don't believe I just read that... are you from the dark ages, mate?

As for the other comments criticising the victims with what amounts to snorts of derision, I hope you never get conned... or are you all so perfect that it would never happen?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

The fraud schemes here are... creative? Pathetic?

Somehow both. But always surprising at the continual change and variation in them, and the ease with which large numbers of gullible people are collected. You would think that cumulatively, ppl would stop being so gullible.

BTW, what does gullible sounding like oranges mean? I don't get it...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Why the harsh words for the victims? Sure of course the victims were stupid, naive, guillible etc but hey even smart, ruthless Rupert Murdoch fell for Wendi Deng. In the history of men, love and sex or the promise of those two have always been used as weapons on victims that range from the silly to the clever.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

If you liked it, then you shoulda put a ring on it

0 ( +0 / -0 )

sometimes I'm happy I'm too poor to get conned!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

This type of sales method is more common than non-Japanese think. I was a manager for a company whose sales team were all women. I learned over time that their means of bringing me customers was not limited to activities out of bed.

Risky strategy, as having successfully bedded your staff, the client effectively 'wins' and can give himself a pat on the back and move on. I'm assuming, of course, that no one would be stupid enough to sign a contract in exchange for a jump!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I feel really sorry for the victims actually - they lose both money and a relationship. Vulnerable people who have been taken advantage of, not nice at all.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Can we sue the property buyers for being morons and insulting our intelligence? Surprised to see any sympathy for the simpletons. I presume the use of the made up word, "singleton" was the author making their own judgement about these idiots. Being more than stupid carries repurcussions. Case in point. Move on. And now for the news.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I'm really getting tired of hearing about shysters cheating people out of their money. Jail time and heavy fines, please!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

To ALL

Sex is nothing but business as usual you please show me a honest businessman, its all a game of Cat and mouse take your choice which one do you want to be? On one end or the other someone is going to get the shaft!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Hmm... Am surprised that people here are blaming the victims... Do they unconsciously see themselves as the victims..?

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

This article is not just about desperate singles who buy places based on expectations of something more, the same could be said about many other purchases I have seen here in Japan in regards to real estate that involve the whole family. How many times have people moved into places just because they see many high end luxury cars parked there? You would think that they were really some fancy digs, but just some of the same run of the mill apartments you find around. Many people fall victim to moving to a place where they can be perceived as "hip" and fashionable. One could probably empty out a large part of Tokyo if people stopped trying to move there just to say "I live in Tokyo."

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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