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A Chinese man has been arrested in Japan for allegedly scamming a 71-year-old Japanese woman out of 809 million yen ($5.2 million) by impersonating a prominent economist in what is believed to be Japan's largest online investment scam targeting a single individual.
The suspect, 34-year-old Wen Zhuolin, reportedly posed as Takuro Morinaga, a well-known Japanese economist, using a fake profile on the messaging app Line. The victim, an executive from Ibaraki Prefecture, initially reached out to Wen after encountering an investment advertisement on Instagram in October 2023. Wen convinced her to invest in a scheme promising an 85% monthly return on gold investments.
The woman made her first payment of 10 million yen ($65,000) in November 2023, after which Wen and his associates arranged two in-person cash handovers at a train station in December. As the scheme progressed, Wen allegedly provided falsified records of profit growth, which encouraged the victim to continue investing. Over the next several months, she transferred a total of 799 million yen ($5.1 million) in 47 separate transactions.
The scam reportedly lasted from October 2023 to April 2024, with Wen allegedly exploiting the victim’s trust through continuous manipulation and false promises of high returns. This case marks a record-breaking online fraud case in Japan and has sparked concern over the growing sophistication of digital scams.
Japanese netizens have voiced strong reactions, criticizing the brazen nature of the crime and urging for stronger security measures in online investment platforms. Many have expressed sympathy for the victim, questioning the effectiveness of regulations that allow scammers to exploit vulnerable individuals.
