[Fraud] “The LINE message came from Elon Musk， so it can’t be a scam，” a convenience store employee persuades Shimane， and receives a letter of appreciation．
Two convenience store employees in Ota City, Shimane Prefecture, were presented with a letter of appreciation from the police for preventing an investment scam in which someone pretended to be a celebrity on social media. The two say they tried to persuade the customer that it was a scam, but they were reluctant to accept it. A few days later, when the customer returned, he unexpectedly said one word to the store clerk… Two men who work at a convenience store in the city received a letter of appreciation from Ota Police Station. In April of this year, a regular male customer came to the convenience store and said he had been asked to buy a card and give out the number. When the store clerk asked him about his wish to purchase 200,000 yen worth of electronic money, he said that he had been approached by a celebrity about investing. Suspecting it was a scam, the two tried to persuade the customer, but he was reluctant to comply, so they called the police for help and were able to prevent the fraud from happening. We asked the two of them about what it was like at the time. That day, a man who had been a regular customer at the store for many years came into the store looking different than usual and told the store clerk the following. “I got this LINE message, is it a scam? Everyone tells me to stop it, but I believe it.” The screen he showed me showed the LINE chat history sent in English. When translated, the message was about investment and asking me to purchase 200,000 yen worth of electronic money. The man, a regular customer, reportedly brought 200,000 yen in cash. The store clerk told him it was a scam and tried to persuade him not to make the purchase, but… “It couldn’t be a scam, it was a LINE message from Elon Musk, a celebrity.” The two store clerks tried to persuade him persistently, but the regular customer, convinced it was a message from a celebrity, refused to comply, and they were forced to call the police. Police officers who rushed to the scene also joined in the persuasion efforts, but regular customers still refused to believe it was a scam. The regular customer left the store without purchasing any electronic money, as he was planning to talk to the police at the station that day. The next day, the regular customer visited the store again. Perhaps thanks to what he had said at the police station, he continued shopping as usual and made no attempt to purchase electronic money, but he apparently complained to the store clerk, “I still can’t believe it’s a scam.” As such, scams using social networking sites, in which people claim to be celebrities and solicit investments, or pose as lovers or spouses through online interactions only, and then ask for money, are rapidly increasing nationwide. In an effort to prevent as many such scams as possible, Ota Police Station, with the cooperation of convenience stores in the city, has decided that when customers purchase more than 30,000 yen worth of electronic money, they will contact the police, who will then directly ask them what the money will be used for.The police have also taken the unique initiative of covering the 300 yen fee so that customers can go shopping and wait until police arrive. Ota Police Station Chief Hiroaki Ago: “This has enabled us to prevent a significant number of incidents. I want people to understand that there is no such thing as an easy way to make money, and I want people to consult with people around them.” [bss Sanyo Broadcasting] 2024/9/3 (Tue) 6:09.
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