‘Like a video game’: Japan’s gangs hire online

A man, who said he was jailed for two years, speaking during an AFP interview on condition of anonymity at temporary housing for ex-prisoners in Tokyo. Criminal gangs in Japan are increasingly tapping into the anonymity and reach of social media to amass and mobilise money-hungry individuals – including teens – for crimes including fraud, theft and even robbery. — AFP

TOKYO: Risa Yamada grew up fatherless and struggled to find consistent work until she stumbled on an intriguing job listing: one of a growing number of advertisements posted on social media by Japanese criminal gangs.

Hired to impersonate a police officer, she thrived, wheedling hundreds of thousands of dollars out of Japan’s many lonely, wealthy and naive elderly people on the phone.