Japanese Scams to Watch Out For

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I can't help myself smiling back at Paolo when he so cheerfully tells me about scams. 😁

We need "A day in the life of a traditional Japanese Scammer" 😀

I live in Japan and about 5 months ago, an old lady ( 60 - 70 ish years old) knocked on my door saying she was facing a hard time during corona and was selling produce she grew at her backyard to pay the bills. She was charging ¥500 ( a little less than 5 dollars ) for a cabbage, which is very expensive for a cabbage. My husband wanted to help so he bought the cabbage and when she handed him, it was the smallest cabbage I've ever seen. A while later I've talked to a neighbor about it and she said that the old lady did that even before the pandemic and she lived in a fancy house driving a new fancy car, she didn't need money at all as she was supported by her children. I was shocked!

The "grandchild calling" scam happens here in the U.S. My mother is 92 and she gets calls like that sometimes. She'll play along with them for awhile before calling them an idiot and hanging up on them.

I remember first hearing about the "It's me" scam when an article reported an old woman getting a call from someone claiming to be her granddaughter, so she asked the caller to verify her identity by naming all the (current) Pretty Cure - as it was her granddaughter's favorite show. The scammer hung up.

Its Paolo still smiling while saying "these are the scams in Japan to watch out for" for me HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Having heard your last scam towards foreigners, I believe my daughter and I were targets of one last year on our trip to Shikoku. We were recomend by our lodging host to eat at his friends restaurant. We went in and were sat down up by the kitchen. We were never given a menu to order from. Then food was served, that we didn't order. We didn't know what to do, and thought perhaps our lodging host ordered something for us. Then we got the bill! It was $60 (Usd)for the 2 of us! A piece of fish and some vegetables. That was 2 days of our budget, gone! We told our host what happened. He acted like he didn't understand. Be careful out there!

This happened a couple times while I was in Japan. I’m not sure if it’s a scam or upselling to foreigners. When going to sit-down restaurants, the waiters would give us a menu, but when you choose an item, the waiter would say that’s not available and offer another item at a different (higher) price. It’s happened a couple times so I’m fairly suspicious.

In the states we have an IRS tax scam. This typically happens around tax time, and you will get this call, with the person (or automated voice) claiming that there is an issue with your tax payment with the IRS, and that you have to call them at this particular number to resolve the issue. This is a major scam, as the IRS DOES NOT call people. They send out letters in the mail.

I was traveling in Japan with a friend in 2019 and a Japanese guy approached us saying he was trying to get people to come support his new bar that opened and they have specials for the night, as it was opening night. he was so friendly and convincing that we wanted to go and support him. We wanted to just eat something first. He took us and showed us where his place was and gave us a flier saying he will look out for us when we get there. We ate and it got late, and didn't feel like going anymore. I felt so bad that I wanted to go back the next day and make up for it, but never got around to it... Now I think I dodged a bullet... maybe it was a scam?

Having fallen for the bar scam myself when we were walking around Harajuku, these people prey on tourists. Sometimes they’ll just be standing there handing out flyers. Lesson learned the hardway. Thank you for putting this video up so that other people dont fall for it

I think Ore Ore scam exists in many countries, including where i live right now. It is easy to do and perpetrator's identity is safe while doing the scam. Just by saying, "hey it is me" or "how dare you forgetting your old friend/relative/family" and let the victims try their hard to remember and after they say the name, scammers can say "yes it is [name that they said earlier]".

Thank you for covering a variety of topics!

wherever we go, we need to be careful for our safety. thanks for the information paolo

Someday I will go to Japan. This channel motivate me to study hard and make me find a way to achieve my dreams. I really want to go to Japan, the food, places, people are so beautiful.

I spent 3 weeks in Japan with a friend and the last scam happened to us twice, once it Tokyo and once in Osaka. It wasn’t a humongous bill for European standards but we could tell that we’d been had after comparing the bill to other restaurants/bars. Especially since we only had some omelette and two glasses of Sake at one place.

the scams there are almost similar here in the Philippines. thank you for this video! this is very informative

That really makes me sad that people can be tricked into believing a voice they don't recognize is a close relative, it's so common for people to be too busy or tired for family.

Thank you for a new video. The most scams are worldwide unfortunately and they have no mercy. Keep up the good work Paulo!