TOKYO –
The National Police Agency introduced on May twenty eighth that it’s going to launch a brand new framework in cooperation with 9 monetary establishments geared toward quickly tracing cash stolen via particular fraud schemes and different scams, as damages from such crimes reached a document excessive final yr.
According to the company, whole losses from particular fraud instances and SNS-based funding and romance scams exceeded 320 billion yen in 2025, marking the worst annual determine on document, with the state of affairs remaining extreme.
Authorities stated stolen funds are sometimes rapidly moved via a number of financial institution accounts by felony organizations in a type of cash laundering, making it tough to trace the cash and return it to victims.
Currently, when fraud instances happen, police departments throughout Japan request monetary establishments to freeze the recipient accounts whereas additionally inquiring whether or not the funds have been transferred to different accounts.
These inquiries are performed by mail, with police sending written paperwork to monetary establishments. Responses can take a number of days on the earliest, and in some instances a number of weeks.
As a consequence, investigators are sometimes unable to maintain tempo with the velocity at which felony teams transfer stolen funds. By the time police obtain info on vacation spot accounts from monetary establishments, the cash has regularly already been transferred once more, making restoration tough.
To handle the issue, the National Police Agency introduced a brand new cooperative framework with 9 monetary establishments: Mizuho Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Resona Bank, Seven Bank, Rakuten Bank, AEON Bank, SBI Shinsei Bank, and Japan Post Bank.
Under the brand new system, when police obtain experiences of particular fraud or comparable crimes, police departments nationwide will submit inquiries on-line via the National Police Agency to collaborating monetary establishments.
Authorities stated some responses from banks might be acquired on the identical day, permitting investigators to trace the motion of stolen funds earlier than felony teams switch the cash elsewhere, with the aim of accelerating the probability of returning funds to victims.
Police additionally stated that figuring out the monetary establishments receiving transferred funds would assist speed up investigations into so-called “dashiko” operatives, who withdraw stolen cash from ATMs on behalf of fraud teams.
The National Police Agency stated it hopes to broaden the framework to further monetary establishments with the intention to create an setting the place cash laundering turns into tougher for criminals. The framework will start operation on June 1st.
Source: TBS