Chinese arrested for swindling Japanese woman out of $5.3M in fake investment scheme

By Minh Nga November 14, 2024 | 02:00 am PT

A Japanese woman lost 809 million yen (US$5.3 million) in an online investment scam led by a Chinese man posing as a company director, marking Japan's largest social media fraud to date.

The Ibaraki Prefectural Police announced on Tuesday the arrest of Wen Zhuolin, 34, for defrauding a 71-year-old Japanese company executive from the prefecture via the messaging platform LINE, where he allegedly posed as an economist.

According to Kyodo News, the woman was drawn into the investment scheme through a fake LINE account impersonating Japanese economic analyst Takuro Morinaga. She initially encountered an investment advertisement on Instagram in October last year and subsequently added an account that claimed to represent Morinaga.

In November, she transferred 10 million yen after an individual pretending to be Morinaga's assistant convinced her to invest. Using an app that simulated profit gains, the scammers persuaded her to transfer or deliver a total of 799 million yen through 47 transactions.

Wen is suspected of colluding with other, as yet unidentified, accomplices between Oct. 24, 2023, and April 12, 2024, making fraudulent promises of investment returns.

He allegedly claimed that a "monthly profit of 85%" was achievable and that "profits could be made by entrusting cash to a dispatched representative," according to The Japan Times.

The investigation is ongoing.