Japanese mother flies to Cambodia to rescue missing son trapped by fraud ring

FUKUOKA (TR) – Dozens of Japanese nationals are reportedly disappearing after being lured or trafficked into an overseas fraud ring.

Now, a desperate mother from Fukuoka Prefecture is taking matters into her own hands to rescue her college-aged son from a Cambodian fraud ring, reports TV Asahi (Sep. 28).

The woman, in her 50s, says her son vanished nine months ago after telling her he was going on a three-day trip to South Korea. Alarm bells rang when she tracked his smartphone location data —not to Seoul, but to Cambodia .

A woman in Japan found out that her son is trapped in a fraud ring in Cambodia (X)

“Working for a Cambodian company”

Upon consulting the police, she was warned her son had likely been swallowed up by a tokushu sagi (special fraud) syndicate. In such a case, a person poses as a public official or police officer on the telephone to con a victim.

After months of dead silence, the son suddenly initiated a video call last month. He appeared cheerful, eating at what looked like a Japanese restaurant, and claimed to be “working for a Cambodian company.”

However, when pressed for his exact location, he deflected. Instead, he repeatedly demanded that his mother withdraw the missing person report she had filed with Japanese police.

“He kept insisting it was causing problems at his company and demanded I send a certificate proving I canceled the search request,” the mother said. “My suspicions and anxiety only grew.”

She believes the syndicate orchestrated the call to make his disappearance look like a voluntary runaway, a tactic meant to call off police heat.

The threat is highly organized. On October 15, the Metropolitan Police Department announced the re-arrest of a man accused of kidnapping a woman in her 20s in order to traffic her to a Cambodian scam base. In June, a top official from Japan’s National Police Agency visited Cambodia, noting that “dozens” of missing Japanese nationals are believed to be held in the Southeast Asian country.

“More precious than diamonds”

The reality inside these bases is chilling. A man in his 30s, using the pseudonym Tanaka, recently managed to escape a syndicate in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.

Tanaka, who had been working at a local restaurant, says he was “sold to the mafia” by someone he thought was a friend. He was thrown into a car by known gangsters and locked in a 13-story apartment overlooking the Mekong River, where he was kept under constant surveillance.

His captors ordered him to rewrite scam manuals into natural-sounding Japanese. While the gangsters acted friendly, telling him “Let’s get rich together,” the underlying threat of violence was ever-present.

“There was a machine to bind hands and feet in another room,” Tanaka recalled.

The gangsters told him Japanese captives were “more precious than diamonds” due to the immense profits generated from scamming victims back in Japan and the logistical difficulty of smuggling fresh recruits into Cambodia. Tanaka feigned cooperation for two weeks before making a daring escape during a brief, permitted outing.

Frustrated by a system where missing persons swept up by overseas scams are often dismissed locally as voluntary runaways, the mother from Fukuoka is refusing to wait for bureaucratic miracles. She recently boarded a flight to Cambodia to directly petition local authorities for her son’s rescue.

“Appealing for protection through the Foreign Ministry or the embassy gets a poor response,” she said before departing Fukuoka Airport. “I think going there directly must mean something.”

Published in Crime and News

The editorial team at The Tokyo Reporter brings the site's readership the latest news from the under side of Japan.

Hackers breach Japanese hotel booking system, target guests in credit card phishing scam Hackers breach Japanese hotel booking system, target guests in credit card phishing scam

Nagano cop arrested over statutory rape of teen girl met online Nagano cop arrested over statutory rape of teen girl met online

Fukuoka exec convicted of knifepoint sexual assault says drugs made him ‘lose reason’ Fukuoka exec convicted of knifepoint sexual assault says drugs made him ‘lose reason’

Fugitive arrested after fatal Gunma stabbing Fugitive arrested after fatal Gunma stabbing

福冈（TR）——据报道，数十名日本公民在被诱骗或贩卖到海外诈骗团伙后失踪。

据朝日电视台（9月28日）报道，福冈县一位绝望的母亲决定亲自出手，将她上大学的儿子从一个柬埔寨诈骗团伙手中解救出来。

这位五十多岁的母亲说，她的儿子九个月前失踪了，当时他告诉她要去韩国旅行三天。当她追踪儿子的手机定位数据时，发现他并没有去首尔，而是去了柬埔寨，这让她警觉起来。

日本一名女子发现自己的儿子落入了柬埔寨的一个诈骗团伙（X）

“为一家柬埔寨公司工作”

经咨询警方，她被告知儿子很可能落入了“特专诈骗”团伙的圈套。在这种情况下，不法分子会冒充公职人员或警察，通过电话诈骗受害者。

在几个月杳无音讯之后，儿子上个月突然发起了视频通话。他看起来很开心，似乎在一家日本餐厅吃饭，并声称自己“在一家柬埔寨公司工作”。

然而，当被追问确切位置时，他却避而不答。相反，他反复要求母亲撤回向日本警方报案的失踪人口报告。

“他一直坚持说这件事给他的公司造成了麻烦，并要求我提供一份证明，证明我已经取消了搜索请求，”这位母亲说。“我的疑虑和焦虑与日俱增。”

她认为犯罪集团策划了这通电话，目的是让他的失踪看起来像是自愿离家出走，以此来减轻警方的追捕。

这一威胁组织严密。10月15日，东京警视厅宣布再次逮捕了一名男子，该男子涉嫌绑架一名20多岁的女子，意图将其贩卖到柬埔寨的诈骗窝点。今年6月，日本国家警察厅一名高级官员访问了柬埔寨，并指出据信有“数十名”失踪的日本公民被关押在这个东南亚国家。

“比钻石更珍贵”

这些基地内部的真实情况令人不寒而栗。一名化名田中、三十多岁的男子最近成功从柬埔寨首都金边的一个犯罪集团手中逃脱。

田中曾在当地一家餐馆工作，他说自己被一个他以为是朋友的人“卖给了黑手党”。他被几个臭名昭著的黑帮分子塞进一辆车里，锁在一栋俯瞰湄公河的13层公寓楼里，在那里他一直受到严密的监视。

绑匪命令他用自然流畅的日语重写诈骗手册。虽然歹徒们表面上对他很友好，说着“咱们一起发财吧”，但暴力威胁却始终挥之不去。

田中回忆说：“另一个房间里有一台用来捆绑手脚的机器。”

黑帮分子告诉他，由于在日本诈骗受害者能获得巨额利润，而且将新成员偷运到柬埔寨在后勤方面难度极大，所以日本俘虏“比钻石还珍贵”。田中假装合作了两周，然后在一次短暂的获准外出中大胆逃脱。

福冈这位母亲对现行体制感到失望，因为在这种体制下，被海外诈骗卷入失踪人口案件的人往往被当地政府认定为自愿离家出走。她拒绝坐等官僚机构的奇迹出现，近日亲自飞往柬埔寨，向当地政府请愿，请求营救她的儿子。

“通过外交部或大使馆寻求保护收效甚微，”​​她在离开福冈机场前说道，“我认为直接去那里肯定有其道理。”

发表于“犯罪与新闻”栏目

《东京记者报》的编辑团队为网站读者带来来自日本阴暗面的最新消息。

黑客入侵日本酒店预订系统，以信用卡钓鱼诈骗为目标

长野县一名警察因强奸网上认识的少女被捕

福冈一名高管因持刀性侵被判有罪，他称毒品使他“失去理智”

群马县发生致命刺伤案，一名逃犯落网。