Amid a rise in scams that solicit money via social media by using celebrities’ names or taking advantage of romantic sentiments, Fukushima Prefectural Police urge residents to be vigilant and intensify their investigation .
The two types of social media fraud cost people in the prefecture ยฅ328.2 million ($2.1 million) in 18 cases in the three months from January to March, already exceeding the ยฅ229.02 million in the 23 cases reported in all of 2023.
Several more cases were confirmed in April, including one on April 11 in which a woman in her 60s in Aizuwakamatsu was found to have been defrauded of ยฅ14 million in an investment scam.
