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From reuters.co.uk
<i>You might think that by now, most people would know better.
Japanese police and media have been warning the public for months about so-called "it's me" scams in which swindlers cheat victims out of money by phoning and posing as a relative who desperately needs cash to get out of a bind.
Despite the campaign, the victims -- often middle-aged or elderly women -- were duped out of more than 15 billion yen ($143 million) in the first 10 months of 2004, up from 4.3 billion ($41 million) for all of 2003, National Police Agency figures show.
"We keep telling people to be careful and still they are taken in," a police official said on Monday after the Agency set up a special task force to crack down on the scam.
"When someone gets a phone call like this in the midst of a peaceful life, they get upset and lose their presence of mind."
The scams typically begin with a call from a person claiming to be a son, daughter or other relative in need of money for such purposes as an out-of-court settlement after a traffic accident, to fund a girlfriend's abortion or to pay off a loan shark. The distraught family member is persuaded to send the funds to a designated bank account by electronic transfer...</i> <A HREF="http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=706 8944">Entire Story Here</A>
<i>You might think that by now, most people would know better.
Japanese police and media have been warning the public for months about so-called "it's me" scams in which swindlers cheat victims out of money by phoning and posing as a relative who desperately needs cash to get out of a bind.
Despite the campaign, the victims -- often middle-aged or elderly women -- were duped out of more than 15 billion yen ($143 million) in the first 10 months of 2004, up from 4.3 billion ($41 million) for all of 2003, National Police Agency figures show.
"We keep telling people to be careful and still they are taken in," a police official said on Monday after the Agency set up a special task force to crack down on the scam.
"When someone gets a phone call like this in the midst of a peaceful life, they get upset and lose their presence of mind."
The scams typically begin with a call from a person claiming to be a son, daughter or other relative in need of money for such purposes as an out-of-court settlement after a traffic accident, to fund a girlfriend's abortion or to pay off a loan shark. The distraught family member is persuaded to send the funds to a designated bank account by electronic transfer...</i> <A HREF="http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=706 8944">Entire Story Here</A>