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July 02, 2026
 

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FRAUD

Suspects transferred from Cambodia and arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department at Narita Airport on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 15, 2026
13 arrested in Japan over Cambodia phone scam ring
The suspects, ranging in age from their 20s to 60s, were arrested for alleged fraud after being flown back to Japan.
Smartphone apps that help prevent fraud by blocking international calls and alerting users to potential scams could be endorsed by the National Police Agency under new plans.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 15, 2026
Police in Japan to endorse fraud prevention apps
As of the end of November, losses from so-called special fraud cases, including telephone scams, had reached about ¥121.3 billion, the worst on record.
Cambodia Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly, at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 27.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 14, 2026
Cambodia to keep up crackdown on scam centers after arrest of alleged mastermind
The arrest of Chen Zhi and his extradition to China was “not the end” of the Southeast Asian nation’s battle to stamp out transborder crimes, its foreign minister said.
The Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2026
Chubu Electric’s data fraud ‘undermines’ Japan’s nuclear energy policy
A delay in the restart of Hamaoka reactors will deal a blow to Chubu Electric’s earnings and affect the government’s goal of raising the share of nuclear power.
Guards escort accused scam boss Chen Zhi off a China Southern plane in Beijing in this undated image released on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 9, 2026
‘Sever the chain’: Scam tycoons in China’s crosshairs
China is moving against the scammers making fortunes in Southeast Asia, driven by mounting public pressure and Beijing’s desire to keep control of judicial processes, analysts say.
Counterfeit silver coins seized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on Wednesday in Tokyo
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 8, 2026
Tokyo police arrest four suspects over counterfeit silver coins
The suspects allegedly exchanged 79 counterfeit coins at three branches of two banks between mid-May and early June last year.
According to a report released by the National Police Agency, criminal organizations are paying higher prices to acquire bank accounts that are then used to move illicit funds.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 8, 2026
Police move to tighten money-laundering laws
While penalties for selling a bank account include a maximum of one year in prison or a ¥1 million fine, a report from the National Police Agency deemed them insufficient.
The National Police Agency is calling on people who have applied for illicit part-time jobs, such as carrying out robberies and fraud, to consult the police without hesitation.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 6, 2026
Japan police provide protection in 544 ‘dark’ job cases
The NPA is calling on people who have applied for illicit part-time jobs, such as carrying out robberies and fraud, to consult the police without hesitation.
An expert cautions that recent increases in crimes in Japan must be viewed in the context of a much longer overall declining trend.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 19, 2025
Reported crimes rise for third consecutive year, government data reveals
Police recorded 737,679 reported offenses under the Penal Code in 2024, up 34,328 cases — or 4.9% — from 2023.
A man inspecting a garage damaged by Thai airstrikes in Poipet town, Banteay Meanchey province, Cambodia, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 19, 2025
Thailand says Cambodia border fight is also a war on scammers
The framing shows Bangkok is seeking to align itself with both Washington and Beijing.
A courtroom sketch of Do Kwon, a South Korean cryptocurrency executive charged with fraud, in New York on Aug. 12.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 12, 2025
Crypto entrepreneur behind 2022 crash sentenced to 15 years
Do Kwon of South Korea had developed TerraUSD and Luna, which lost an estimated $40 billion.
Senior police officers from Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures hold a joint news conference in Tokyo Friday following the arrests of the alleged masterminds behind a series of robberies.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 8, 2025
Masterminds behind Tokyo-area robberies used X to recruit people, sources say
The four are believed to have used accounts on the social media platform to recruit subordinates by posting “dark” job offers, including those that promised same-day payment.
Shwe Kokko city — a casino, entertainment and tourism complex in Myanmar — seen from Thailand's Mae Sot District in February, after Thailand cut electricity, internet and fuel supplies to five border areas in Myanmar in an bid to curb scam centers
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 4, 2025
Thailand seizes millions in assets and issues arrest warrants in scams crackdown
Parts of Southeast Asia have become hubs for online fraud, with criminal networks earning billions from illegal compounds where trafficking victims are often forced to work.
A leaflet made by the Metropolitan Police Department explains its Digi Police crime prevention app.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2025
Tokyo police app blocks incoming international calls to help combat fraud
When the new feature is enabled, the app automatically blocks international calls and calls from numbers Tokyo police know have been used for fraud.
The language of サイバーセキュリティ (saibā sekyuriti, cybersecurity) involves a lot of katakana versions of English terminology.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 14, 2025
Japanese words of caution in the online world of cyberattacks and phishing
From earthquakes to cyberattacks, Japan’s cautious mindset even shows up in its grammar, such as in phrases meaning “better safe than sorry.”
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has leaned into the involvement of ethnic Chinese or citizens in scam operations.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 13, 2025
U.S. ‘Strike Force’ to combat scam centers in Southeast Asia
The U.S. Justice Department is aiming to fight a surge in cryptocurrency‑investment fraud by transnational criminal organizations.
A former police officer and another suspect allegedly took a bank card and passbook from a 96-year-old woman, saying that they would manage her money.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 13, 2025
Former Kyoto police officer arrested for defrauding elderly dementia patient
The former officer is a board member of a group based in the city that works with police to provide daily assistance to elderly dementia patients.
Chinese businessman She Zhijiang (second from right) is escorted by Royal Thai Police out of the Suvarnabhumi Airport Police Station in Bangkok on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 13, 2025
Thailand extradites alleged Chinese racketeer linked to Myanmar scam hub
She Zhijiang, 43, had been in Thai custody since 2022 after spending more than a decade on the run from Chinese authorities.
The KK Park complex on Sunday, following a declared military crackdown that left some damage at the scam compound in Myanmar's eastern Myawaddy township
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 11, 2025
Images show Myanmar scam hub largely standing despite crackdown
One expert said the images were evidence that military raids were limited in order to preserve the hugely profitable illicit industry.
Buildings are adorned with advertisements for gambling sites and what appears to be Starlink satellite dishes at KK Park complex in Myanmar's eastern Myawaddy township, as pictured from Mae Sot district in Thailand's border province of Tak on Sept. 17.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 9, 2025
Myanmar junta says demolishing 150 scam hub buildings
Experts say the raids are likely limited, choreographed and intentionally publicized as the junta tries to appear cracking down on scammers while still profiting from them.
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.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
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.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
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.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.

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