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July 04, 2026
 

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FRAUD

Sri Lankan police stop vehicles at a checkpoint in Colombo in 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
May 3, 2026
Sri Lankan police arrest 37 Chinese at suspected scam center
The arrests came a month after 152 foreign nationals, mostly Chinese, were detained for allegedly running a cyberscam operation in the island’s northwest.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has set up a special task force to intensify its crackdown on the Kohei-ikka, a Sumiyoshi-kai-affiliated designated crime group suspected of deepening its involvement with <i>tokuryū</i> networks, including special fraud linked to illegal job schemes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 23, 2026
Yakuza membership fell to record low in 2025
Authorities attribute the decline to an aging population within the criminal groups, tighter enforcement and a nationwide rollout of anti-gang ordinances.
Prudential Life CEO Hiromitsu Tokumaru (center) and other executives from the firm during a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2026
Prudential Life Insurance suspends sales for additional 180 days
The Japanese insurer has received more complaints related to alleged misuse of customer funds.
Suspects of a crypto asset fraud scheme arrive at Tokyo&#039;s Haneda Airport on Thursday after being transferred from Indonesia.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2026
Japanese men held over fraud allegations after transfer from Indonesia
The men were suspected of convincing a woman in Nara Prefecture to purchase the cryptocurrency ethereum and transfer the funds to an account managed by them.
Five members of the Philippines-based JP Dragon crime ring were arrested for allegedly posing as police in 2022 to defraud an elderly woman in Gifu Prefecture of ¥1.4 million.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 8, 2026
Police arrest five more alleged members of Philippines-based Japan crime ring
The latest arrests have brought the total number of apprehended members and people with ties to the group to 14.
Police are investigating a connection between fraud cases in Ehime and Osaka prefectures.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 7, 2026
Woman defrauded of ¥1.2 billion in largest scam loss on record in Japan
Individuals posing as police officers and prosecutors instructed the woman to transfer funds under the pretense of it being part of an investigation into her assets.
Bonbon drop stickers sold by Osaka-based Q-Lia have helped fuel a broader boom in Japan’s sticker market.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 3, 2026
Scam sites for popular stickers on the rise amid shortage
As many as 532 fraudulent websites posing as sellers of the viral Bonbon Drop stickers have been detected so far.
The Cabinet of Sanae Takaichi approved amendments to the criminal proceeds law to strengthen anti–money laundering measures, including allowing police to open dummy online bank accounts to trace scam funds while protecting victims’ deposits.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2026
Japan to step up its fight against money laundering by scammers
The change will allow police to open online bank accounts under fictitious names for scammers to then use so police can track the flow of money.
Senior officials from the Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa prefectural police hold a joint news conference in Tokyo in December following arrests of four suspected masterminds behind a series of robberies in the Tokyo metropolitan area last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 3, 2026
Police took action against 12,000 people over tokuryū in 2025
The National Police Agency aims to uncover the full picture of the crime groups and identify their leaders.
The National Police Agency has issued guidelines calling for resource sharing and more flexibility to address rising specialized and international crimes and police staffing challenges.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 2, 2026
Japan’s police agency to promote reform to tackle more specialized, global crime
The guidelines call for equipment and personnel to be shared across police departments and for a review of the division of roles between headquarters and stations.
Masahiko Kato, chairperson of the Japanese Bankers Association, speaks during an interview in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on March 26.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2026
Japanese banks to share data on fraudulent accounts from April 2027
Under the initiative, account data will be shared through the Cooperation agency for Anti-Money Laundering.
In some cases, those posing as contractors deliberately destroyed parts of the building or fixtures during their inspections so that they then needed to be repaired.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 26, 2026
Cases of home-renovation fraud rose to new record in 2025, police data shows
The cost of damages in 2025 totaled ¥15.1 billion — more than three times that recorded during the previous year.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department&#039;s website dedicated to anonymous and transient criminal groups
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 25, 2026
Tokyo police launch website detailing anonymous criminal groups
The website outlines details of the latest fraud methods and presents accounts of people who took on illegal jobs.
Disgraced Vietnamese tycoon Truong My Lan was found guilty of embezzling $12.3 billion from Saigon Commercial Bank in the nation’s largest-ever fraud case and was also convicted on charges including money laundering in a second trial.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 17, 2026
Vietnam bank to sell mogul’s property and car to offset fraud loss
The proceeds from sales of the assets from disgraced tycoon Truong My Lan will go toward recovering the losses incurred, after courts ordered her to repay $27 billion in damages.
A former scam hub facility in Surin province, Thailand, near the Cambodian border, on March 12
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 17, 2026
Japanese personal info left at Thai-Cambodian border scam base
On the 800,000-square-meter compound hosting some 160 buildings, an estimated 20,000 people had been working in scam operations.
A poster warns of online scam threats in the Raffles Place financial business district in Singapore.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 13, 2026
Singapore turns tide in evolving fight against scams
Singapore’s high incomes, hyperconnectivity and public trust in institutions have long made it a prime target for scammers.
Chinese citizens outside the embassy in Phnom Penh
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 8, 2026
After the raids, Asia’s billion-dollar scam trade flickers back
Despite evidence of a scam-center crackdown being apparent all over Cambodia’s capital, operations still come back. Turns out, stopping scammers is tricky business.
A street in Jakarta. Indonesian immigration authorities have arrested 13 Japanese nationals for alleged involvement in fraud cases.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 5, 2026
Indonesia detains 13 Japanese nationals over suspected fraud
Local police in Vietnam have also detained four Japanese individuals on suspicion of defrauding victims in Japan.
Taiwan auctions off luxury cars linked to the Prince Group, suspected of running scam centers in Cambodia, in Taipei on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 4, 2026
Taiwan indicts 62 people linked to suspected scam center operator Prince Group
Taipei prosecutors say Taiwan was one of the locations where the group’s chairman had funneled funds via shell companies, buying luxury goods, sports cars and real estate.
Thai police officers stand guard in front of the country's Supreme Court in Bangkok in June 13.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 3, 2026
Thailand seeks arrest of foreigner accused of $30 million cross-border fraud
A Thai court issued arrest warrants for a foreign businessman and his wife accused of investment fraud and money laundering dating back to 2016.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men&#039;s restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan&#039;s renewable goals.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.

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