5 Fraud, etc.

  The number of cases reported for fraud increased significantly since 2002, reaching a record high since 1960 in the year 2005. However, it decreased in 2006 and was down by 6,845 cases (9.2%) from the previous year in 2007. On the other hand, clearance rates continued declining from 1997 registering a post WWII low at 32.1% in 2004, but turned to increase since the next year and was 41.3% in 2007 (up by 0.9 points from the previous year).
  Recently, billing fraud cases have been increasing rapidly, being one of the major factors raising the number of cases reported for fraud. Billing fraud (extortion) collectively refers to the following four types; so-called “It's me” fraud (extortion) (a fraud or extortion case in which a perpetrator calls up a victim pretending to be a family member of the victim saying “It's me” and asks for money for compensation to be placed immediately in a designated bank account to compensate a fictitious trouble such as embezzlement of money, etc. at companies), fictitious claim fraud (extortion) (a fraud or extortion case in which a perpetrator makes a victim believe he/she has debt and pay a fictitious charge into a designated bank account by mail or the Internet), loan deposit fraud (a fraud case in which a perpetrator pretends to lend money to a victim and makes him/her pay a deposit into a designated bank account), and refund, etc. fraud (a fraud case in which a perpetrator pretends to be a tax collector and makes a victim believe he/she has tax refund and follow a fictitious procedure to make account transfer).
  Table 1-1-2-5 shows the number of cases reported for billing fraud/extortion by type, the amount of damage, the number of cleared cases, the number of persons cleared, and the clearance rate in 2007.
  By modus operandi, the number of reported cases among “It's me” fraud (extortion) was the highest for claims for compensation related to the embezzlement of money, etc. at companies with 2,725 cases, followed by repayments for loan from personal financing companies (2,025 cases). Among fictitious claim fraud (extortion), claims for fictitious fees for websites were the most common with 1,446 (Source: National Police Agency).

Table 1-1-2-5  Number of cases reported and cleared, persons cleared, clearance rate, and the total damage of billing fraud (extortion) (2007)

  Relevant organizations have been conducting public educational activities to prevent damages as well as promoting various measures to strengthen crackdowns in preventing illegal distribution of bank accounts and cellular phones, etc. used in billing fraud (extortion). This has resulted in the number of billing fraud (extortion) cases being reported decreasing over the last few years. However, it appears to have increased in 2008, already exceeding 10,000 in June of that year. In addition, the number of reported billing fraud (extortion) cases accounted for 23.9% of overall fraud/extortion cases in 2007, and had the rather low clearance rate of 17.2% when compared to the number of overall fraud/extortion cases (42.8%) or non-traffic penal code offenses excluding theft (43.9%). Preventing the occurrence of billing fraud (extortion) and their clearance has become an urgently important issue (Source: National Police Agency).