Glimpses of Japan vol.199(外国人から見た日本)
*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****
Glimpses of Japan (外国人から見た日本)
vol.199 Easy for Police, Hard for Citizens
2008.7.18
*****-----------------------------------------------------------------*****
First, you should know that I have very little sympathy for anyone who is so
gullible as to become a victim of billing fraud/telephone fraud. To follow
the instructions of a stranger claiming to be a relative, regardless of how
much they may sound like the person whom they are impersonating, to the extent
of transferring money as directed into an account from an ATM, without
verification, is stupid.
I hear that lately, criminals in these variants of the "ore-ore" scams have
become more original and first call the target victim claiming to be a son or
grandson or whoever, and announce that their phone number has changed. When
successful, further calls from the criminal will appear in the caller ID as
coming from the relative. The next step is to tell some story about a sudden
need for money, and get the victim to go to a bank ATM and follow instructions
by cell phone to transfer the money to the criminal's account. The money is
immediately withdrawn, the cell phone is disposed of, and the victim is poorer
and perhaps more experienced in the evil ways of the world, but probably no
smarter.
Such fraud has been costing people a lot of money over the last few years.
Amazingly, even though the media frequently runs stories about it, people,
especially older people, continue to be tricked.
I'm disappointed in the responses from authorities.
The police and the Ministry of Justice have announced an anti-fraud plan that
involves installing equipment near ATMs to prevent cell phones from operating.
The Japanese Bankers Association has a plan to ask customers to refrain from
using cell phones near ATMs, The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui
Banking Corporation intend to follow, Mizuho Bank has a plan to prohibit customers
from using cell phones at their 5,600 ATMs, and tens of thousands of posters
will be displayed at banks around the country urging customers not to use their
cell phones near ATMs.
So, instead of the police doing something about the *criminals*, the potential
victims and everybody else who uses ATMs will have their freedom limited as a
way of "preventing fraud". This appears to be a trend: the police think it's
sensible to prevent stabbings by stopping sales of daggers, prevent bombings by
prohibiting use of trash cans in stations and trains, and prevent telephone
fraud by prohibiting the use of telephones.
The criminals apparently use cell phones obtained illegally by getting people
to use counterfeit drivers' licenses as identification for phone contracts.
This is well known, but the police seem to be very inept at doing anything about
it. I have heard about a plan to ask cell phone shops to verify whether licenses
are genuine and (in another limitation on freedom) a plan to prohibit the sale
of more than five cell phones to the same person, at one time.
I'd rather see the police come up with a plan for finding and catching the criminals,
rather than more plans for limiting the freedoms of innocent citizens. The Japanese
police are well known for forcing confessions, and for harassing citizens, and for
committing crimes themselves, but they're not particularly good at investigation.
I wish that our taxes were being better spent.
Glimpses of Japan vol.199
===========================================================================
Copyright(c) 2008 NEC Learning, Ltd. All rights reserved.
■言葉の意味などを調べる際にお役立てください。
http://dictionary.reference.com/
■E-mail : mikescafe@necle.jp.nec.com
(日本語・英語どちらでもご意見・ご感想お待ちしています)
■URL : http://www.neclearning.jp/
■メールマガジン登録・退会はこちら:
http://search.mag2.com/reader/Magsearch?keyword=Glimpses+of+Japan


![転職なら[en]社会人の転職情報!転職成功者続出 転職なら[en]社会人の転職情報!転職成功者続出](http://kamogawa.mag2.com/bn/recommend/sya.gif)
![派遣のお仕事探しなら[en]派遣のお仕事情報 派遣のお仕事探しなら[en]派遣のお仕事情報](http://kamogawa.mag2.com/bn/recommend/haken.gif)
![アルバイト探しは[en]本気のアルバイト アルバイト探しは[en]本気のアルバイト](http://kamogawa.mag2.com/bn/recommend/baito.gif)
![就職サイトは[en]学生の就職情報 就職サイトは[en]学生の就職情報](http://kamogawa.mag2.com/bn/recommend/gakusei.gif)
![転職なら[en]転職コンサルタントキャリアを活かした転職に! 転職なら[en]転職コンサルタントキャリアを活かした転職に!](http://kamogawa.mag2.com/bn/recommend/consul.gif)