The first half of the year saw a significant rise in the amount of money stolen through investment fraud and romance scams linked to social media in Japan, totaling approximately ¥66.02 billion. This amount has already surpassed the ¥45.5 billion reported for the entire year of 2023, according to data released by the National Police Agency on Wednesday.
Between January and June, there were 3,570 cases of social media-linked investment fraud, resulting in losses amounting to around ¥50.63 billion. Additionally, 1,498 romance scam cases accounted for another ¥15.39 billion in losses.
A notable 51.6% of the investment fraud cases were linked to advertisements on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Many of these scams involved imposters posing as well-known figures, including analyst Takuro Morinaga and entrepreneur Takafumi Horie.
The average loss per case in these social media-linked scams was over ¥14 million, significantly higher than the ¥2.6 million average loss in other types of special fraud cases not related to social media.
In 54 instances of social media investment fraud, the losses exceeded ¥100 million, with the highest individual case loss reaching ¥800 million. About 70% of romance scam victims were coerced into paying money under the guise of investments.
Among all romance scam cases, the largest group, accounting for 35.7%, involved imposters contacting victims through matching apps. The data highlights the growing prevalence and impact of social media in facilitating these types of fraud.