Overview
- Kagoshima Prefectural Police reported 539 recognized special‑fraud cases through November with losses of about ¥2.82 billion, up 180 cases and roughly ¥990 million year over year.
- Of those in Kagoshima, 271 were false‑phone scams totaling about ¥810 million and 268 were SNS‑type investment or romance scams totaling about ¥2.01 billion.
- Kagoshima police cautioned residents about rising fake‑police calls and advised vigilance toward calls from numbers starting with a plus sign or from unknown contacts, as local media stepped up prevention messaging.
- Saga’s Karatsu police detailed a case in which a woman in her 50s lost about ¥1.78 million after an ad impersonating an investor led her from SNS to a private app and four bank transfers between November 12 and December 17.
- Ibaraki police disclosed a separate case in which a 64‑year‑old man was defrauded of roughly ¥270 million via SNS contacts, including ¥6.1 million in gift cards and about ¥267 million in gold bars handed to couriers.