KYOTO (TR) – Kyoto Prefectural Police have arrested a former Osaka Prefectural Police officer on suspicion of tried fraud for allegedly claiming to be a police officer in an try to defraud a person of his money playing cards, studies the Asahi Shimbun (Oct. 17).
Between 6:00 p.m. and seven:50 p.m. on September 30, Takehito Kawase, 40, allegedly conspired with an unidentified particular person to make false telephone calls to the house of an unemployed man, 76, in Kyoto City’s Fushimi Ward.
The caller claimed that “cash has been fraudulently withdrawn” from the person’s financial savings account and that law enforcement officials will likely be dispatched to cease the withdrawals.
Personally posing as a police officer, Kawase visited the person’s house and picked up 5 money playing cards. “We’ll cut the magnetic strips off your cards to render them unusable,” the suspect stated.
He gained the person’s belief by claiming to be from the “Fushimi Police Station Crime Prevention Division” and confirmed him a picture of his police identification card along with his photograph on his smartphone display.
Kawase reduce the playing cards with scissors to render them unusable, however prevented the magnetic strips. The man turned suspicious and known as police.
On October 6, officers arrested Kawase. During questioning, Kawase launched himself as a “former police officer.”
Kyoto Prefectural Police contacted Osaka Prefectural Police primarily based on info from a smartphone and different objects seized by him. Osaka Prefectural Police confirmed that he was a former police officer. He is presently a re-bar employee.
Regarding the allegations, he stated, “I’ll think about it carefully before I speak.”
Scams on rise
According to the Kyoto Prefectural Police Special Fraud Unit, scams impersonating law enforcement officials are on the rise. Such scams are known as tokushu sagi, that means specialised fraud. Perpetrators of this crime goal a sufferer over the phone and impersonate an authority determine or relative to defraud cash from them.
As of the top of September this yr, the full quantity of losses within the prefecture as a consequence of police impersonation was 1.45287 billion yen, slightly below 90 p.c of all particular fraud instances. The determine for a similar interval final yr was 565.42 million yen.
A police official urged warning. “The same trend is occurring nationwide,” the official stated.
The strategies carried out by the fraudsters embrace saying things like, “You are the subject of an investigation and may be arrested. We are taking custody to investigate your assets.” They may also declare, “Your cash card has been used in a criminal activity. We will replace it with a new one.” In many case, they make it appear as if the sufferer has been concerned in against the law.