Romantics believe that love can conquer all, transcending time, space, and reason. But earlier this week, there was a highly unusual romance scam case where ‘space’ entered the picture, quite literally. CBS News reports that an elderly woman in Japan was conned by a man posing as a stranded astronaut. After building the relationship, the scammer cheated the victim out of a million yen (~$6,700) to fund his "need of oxygen."
The woman, an octogenarian who lives in Japan's northern Hokkaido island, first met her ‘astronaut’ suitor online in July, according to reports. Perhaps he was posing as a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) employee. As the relationship developed and their online communications increased, love blossomed and, of course, a bond of trust was formed. Sadly, the self-described astronaut was what local police describe as a 'romance scammer.'
Astronaut beau "under attack and in need of oxygen"
We must assume that feelings of love clouded the victim’s judgment, as one day her ‘astronaut’ beau informed her of his unbelievable situation. He told the lady he was “in space on a spaceship right now” but was “under attack and in need of oxygen,” according to Japanese police officials.
The scammer went on to plead with his unknowing victim for funds to help him pay for necessary oxygen supplies. According to the Japanese police, this was a successful ploy, and the fraudster benefited from an online payment of around 1 million yen (~$6,700) from his victim’s savings.
Ultimately, we have another stern warning from police about online swindlers to digest. This might be a particularly eyebrow-raising example of people being charmed and conned out of their savings. If anything good can come of this, it is that readers will be more suspicious and vigilant regarding the possibility of being preyed upon by online scammers.
The CBS report underlines the fact that not all romance scams are so out of this world. For example, it quotes Federal Trade Commission figures which indicate that 64,000 Americans lost $1 billion to romance scams in 2023. The scammers won't all have been fake astronauts.
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