A Japanese woman has lost around 1 million yen (£5,000) to an online fraudster who convinced her he was an astronaut in distress.
The 80-year-old victim was persuaded to transfer money to buy “oxygen” after being told he was stranded in space.
Police in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, said the woman met the man on social media in July. He claimed to be an astronaut and began cultivating a romantic connection with her.
According to investigators, the scammer later told her he was “in space on a spaceship right now” and that he was “under attack and in need of oxygen”, reported CBS News. He urged her to transfer money to help him buy oxygen, and she eventually sent the money.
Local media reported that the woman, who lives alone, developed feelings for the man as their online exchanges deepened.
“If a person you met on social media ever demanded cash from you, please be suspicious of the possibility of a scam, and report to police,” an officer warned, reported AFP.
Japan has the world’s second-oldest population after Monaco, according to the World Bank, and older residents are often targeted by fraudsters.
Common schemes include the “it’s me” scam, in which criminals pose as relatives in urgent need of cash, as well as fake ATM refunds of pension or insurance payments.
Romance scams are a growing global problem. According to the National Police Agency of Japan, 3,326 were reported in the first 11 months of 2024, more than double that in the same period in 2023, reported the Japan Times.
The damages amounted to ¥34.6bn (£173.8m), more than twice the amount recorded between January and November of 2023.
In the UK, one in 10 adults have been targeted, or know someone who has been targeted, by a romance scam, according to a Barclays report. In the first quarter of 2025, romance scams were up 20 per cent year-on-year. According to the report, victims lost £8,000 on average last year, increasing dramatically to £19,000 for those 61 and over.
In the US, more than 64,000 people lost a combined total of over $1bn to such schemes in 2023, nearly double the losses reported four years earlier, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
