One of the most interesting aspects about this article is that it seems to work in Japan mostly because of the culture. I have heard of similar events happening in the United States but not nearly to this extent. I don’t think that this is because the police do a better job, but rather that people in the United States are more protective and selfish about their assets. People are probably somewhat protective in Japan as well but they may be more inclined to lend out money, because they may feel that they will be shamed if they do not.
I’m also very suprised at how elaborate and common the crime seems in Japan, especially when they get several people in on the scheme to act out diffrent roles.

This topic of swindling occurrences in Japan really doesn’t surprise me at all. The Japanese people are easy trusting since that’s the way the society and culture is built up as. It also doesn’t help that the Japanese are family oriented like most Asian cultures, making them susceptible when it comes to phone calls from “family” members asking for money. Taking into consideration that Japan is known as a “peaceful” nation since the disarmament of the military in the mid 1900’s, the Japanese culture itself has shifted to a kind hearted type of culture in a sense. Looking at the drama Kurosaki, we can clearly see that swindling is a part of everything in Japan. Although it is a drama based off of a manga, there is some truths in the story as Mangakas generally research some historical history/background before they begin writing a manga. I know that in the United States these types of frauds even happen. This probably goes along with the Japanese frauds too, but I know that in the States, the swindlers will look up names in the phone book that are more old fashioned and call those names since they are usually older, and easier to get money out of. Although this is a very sad crime that keeps on reoccurring, I do think that in the future the Japanese will learn to be less trusting of others because of all of these happenings.

Fraud is something I can relate to, but not on a phone call level, but I know it happens quite frequently within the U.S. as well. It is a matter of where it is coming from though and how it is handled that is different among both countries.
In the United States, fraud is a huge problem coming from outside the country, primarily the middle east. They use the same kind of gimmicks, but I feel like it is more random and it is not a claim that it is a relative or close friend. Americans aren’t prone to give money over the phone to loved ones, instead it would be in person or a wire transfer. In the U.S. it is more likely to be a bank calling you, a credit card collector, or some other commercial use in which you cannot very easily verify that it is them.
In Japan, it would make sense to use this type of fraud. Most people would feel embarrassed because they believed someone and therefore wouldn’t report the incident. Japanese people are very proud people and attempt to protect their image, they do not want people to think lowly of them. It is hard to grasp the concept of someone performing as someone close to them because Americans don’t assume that type of thing on the phone and are not prone to trusting people. Therefore, a million questions would be asked before something like that would occur. Japanese, on the other hand, do not want to offend others and assume that it is someone they love and are in serious need. So they help and are viewed as very generous people.

I am, to say the least, impressed with how prolific and thorough these people are being in pulling off these frauds. Having multiple people play different roles in the scam lends credibility to the scenario, making it such that, if this type of crime were attempted here, would probably work.
My first impulse upon reading this was, “Naw, that would never work on people here.” A lot of Americans, like has been stated above, would probably ask enough questions of the scammer to reveal the lie, or would call a lawyer instead of their bank to figure out a countersuit instead of a payment. We don’t trust suspicious phone calls, emails, letters, or what have you, and everybody knows not to give out information, especially over the phone, unless you were the one who initiated the contact.
And yet, fraud is a huge problem. Americans lose hundreds of millions of dollars yearly to Nigerian email scams alone, which are remarkably unsophisticated. Therein lies the problem – as far as fraud is concerned, there will always be people who are by nature (either being ignorant of the scam or simply being nice) perfectly set up to fall for it, through no real fault of their own.
However, the type of fraud that’s particularly successful in the United States is that which offers personal gain – not “give me money or else” but “give me some money and I’ll give you back even more money”. Compare this to Japanese scams, where the theme is “help me”. It seems that these scams work because the people in question are selfish and selfless (or at least trying to seem that way) respectively. I’d be interested to see how common and how successful typical American scams are in Japan – stereotype tells me that Americans are much more selfish by nature and thus more susceptible, but we’re not supposed to rely on stereotype, now, are we?
As far as coping with and reducing the frequency of oreoresagi, however, I think the Japanese tendency to comply with authority and to preserve public dignity is not just the reason why these scams are so successful, but perhaps the best possible defense. Just as with government programs to educate people about the new jury system as we saw earlier this year and about recycling programs as were blogged about last year, I think that being cautious about this sort of thing can become an action that is habitually done by everyone because it’s just what you’re supposed to do.
Perhaps this will cultivate a less trusting and less generous environment in Japan in the long run, but the sad reality is that it’s getting more and more dangerous to trust others…

My first reaction was “Impossibe, Japanese people cannot be that innocent and nice to fall for this.” And then, after reading the articles, I notice that this was scams was targeting the elderly. I guess it make sense that the elderly people would fall this becasue probably they hardly see their son and daughter and are worried about them. So when the phone call scam comes, elderly people quickly are scared about their beloved son/daughter. I also thought to myself that this scam cannot work almost anywhere or anytime. For example, I don’t think it would a be good idea to try this scam in a busy city to a person, who is always busy, such as a Osakan or a person in Tokyo. Second of all, the scamer has to call the right person at the right time. Certainly, a man trying this scam to a grandparent, who only had a daughter, is obviously not going to wrong. I think calling in a certain time also makes a different too, because calling at night seems to be more serious than calling in the aternoon. So, overall, i do not want to protray all Japanese to be too trusting and generous, they are probably not in the inside. But nevertheless, this scam targets the elderly poeple, after careful investigating of the person.

It is really sad to see this kind of thing happening in a country whose people have a reputation for being so honest. My high school Japanese teacher’s husband, who was with us in Japan and who had traveled all over the world, said that out of any country he had ever been to, Japan had the most honest society. On a previous trip, he told me, a girl in their group had forgotten her bag on a bench in Shinjuku Station while they were transferring lines to get to their hotel in Ikebukuro. She had apparently put it down because it was too heavy, having had all of her things in it. Only hours later did she realize it was missing. My teacher called the station’s office and told them what had happened. Keep in mind that Shinjuku Station is one of the busiest places in Tokyo, with millions upon millions of people who pass through every day. To say the least, the station manager was doubtful that the bag would still be there. Nevertheless he agreed to meet them and search for the bag. They went back to the bench where she thought she had left it, and despite the thousands of people who had passed within the four hours since they had last been there, it was still there, untouched.

So, with stories like this, I supposed I have good reason for assuming this kind of mass fraud would not exist there. I could easily see this happening in America, however, I don’t think many people would be sympathetic enough to fall for it. I must say that I admire people who fall for this scam. They’re doing the right thing. It’s just unfortunate that there are those who want to take advantage of good people.

American money transfer scams focus mostly on the target’s greed (”I’m a Nigerian prince, looking to store my x billion dollars. Please temporarily deposit this oncoming check to your bank account and take out a y-percent cut for your troubles”) or lust (”I’m a beautiful, naive Slavic girl who wants to escape to America and find true love, but I don’t have the money for the ticket”). This “ore ore” scam, on the other hand, seems to focus more on familial connection, the unwillingness of the elderly to seem distrustful toward their kin, and perhaps standard senility.

I don’t think I need to point out that the difference is cultural, since unscrupulous moneymaking has no code of honor that I can think of. I’m fairly sure that the target over here has shifted toward the younger generation since we’re largely a debtor culture rather than a thrifty one, so the new crop of elderly (the Baby Boomers) will have less saved up than the preceding generation that had been raised by Depression-era parents, never mind the steady erosion of the extended family structure since the 1950s. The better score out here is with the young and foolish.

Granted, this is simply one type of scam out of many, and I’d have a hard time believing that the college student or middle-aged salaryman couldn’t find ways to get scammed out of their money. That said, the rise in this type of scam does speak for its success, which also speaks for the victims. As bad as it is to be made a fool of and lose money, I’d rather be a virtuous fool than a wretched one.