Oiso Police Station (file photo)

Oiso Police Station announced on the 20th that a man in his 60s living in Ninomiya Town was deceived into transferring a total of 141,614,000 yen to individuals posing as police officers and prosecutors between February and May.

According to the station, between February 2nd and May 7th, men pretending to be from a mobile phone carrier’s customer support center, police officers, and prosecutors made fraudulent contact with the man through his home landline and smartphone messaging apps. They made false claims such as, “A mobile phone under your name has been registered to a paid site and unpaid fees have accrued,” and “If you don’t file a damage report, the compensation amount will exceed 100,000 yen.” The man used internet banking to transfer money 17 times from his home and a hotel in Hiratsuka City into designated accounts between February 20th and May 7th.

The man was told by the impostors that “the money would be refunded if his innocence was proven,” but he contacted emergency services after losing contact with them.

Oiso Police Station

The Oiso Police Station is a modern law enforcement facility serving the coastal town of Oiso in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. While the station itself does not have a significant historical legacy, it operates in a region renowned for its history as a former post-station town on the important Tokaido road during the Edo period.

Ninomiya Town

Ninomiya Town is a coastal municipality in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, historically known as a post station on the Edo-period Tokaido road. It is most famous as the birthplace of the 19th-century agricultural leader, philosopher, and economist Ninomiya Sontoku, whose statue of a young boy reading while carrying firewood is a common sight in Japanese schools.

Hiratsuka City

Hiratsuka is a coastal city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, with a history dating back to the feudal era. It is most famous for its massive Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival, one of the three great Tanabata festivals in Japan, which has been held for over 70 years. The city also contains historical sites like the ruins of a medieval castle and was a key post town on the important Tokaido road during the Edo period.