Column: Freezing bank accounts to prevent financial loss incurred by special fraud

The police immediately request that financial institutions freeze savings accounts abused in perpetration of special fraud to stop the outflow of fraudulently gained money, and prevent the accounts from being abused in another crime. Financial institutions utilize a List of Names of Holders of Frozen Accounts, and when a person on the list applies to open a new account, they refuse the transaction and provide information to the nearest police station. The police try to arrest suspects based on this information.

(3) Promoting Preventive Actions through the Unified Efforts of the Government and the People I. Promoting Public Relations and Awareness Activities

The police actively provide citizens with information about modus operandi of special fraud and warnings at various occasions to prevent them from falling victim. The police also promote publicity and awareness activities directly and individually to persons more prone to fall victim, such as senior citizens, by carrying out actions that include visiting individual homes. The police also boost social defiance of crime through actions such as giving guidance on crime prevention to local residents and corporations, warning citizens to prevent financial loss from special fraud, and encouraging citizens to actively participate in efforts to prevent financial loss so that family members and others can discourage victims from handing over money by doing exactly as a criminal instructs.

Column: Damage prevention by utilizing lists of names obtained through the investigative process

Criminal groups abuse lists of people who utilize mail-order services to repeatedly commit criminal acts. Lists of names confiscated by police in the investigative process are marked with personal information that criminals extracted from the people on the lists, such as “not at home,” “stockholder,” and “lives alone.”

The police visit the homes of the people on such lists or contact them by phone through an entrusted private call center to warn them and provide guidance on specific countermeasures.

An example of a list confiscated by the police (personal information is blacked out)

II. Collaborating with Relevant Institutions and Groups

The majority of money fraudulently gained from special fraud is remitted or withdrawn by ATM or at the counter of a financial institution. Therefore, it is extremely important that employees of financial institutions communicate with customers to prevent financial loss. The police encourage communication by providing a checklist to show customers when communicating with them and through training conducted in collaboration with employees of financial institutions. As a result, the rate at which special fraud is being prevented is increasing each year. In 2013, the amount of financial loss that would have been incurred by special fraud had it not been prevented by communication from financial institution employees came to approximately 19.3 billion yen, but this is equivalent to approximately 40% of the actual amount that was remitted or sent in cash (total amount of financial loss).

Trends in the number of confirmed cases and prevented cases of special fraud (2009–2013)

Special fraud other than remittance fraud is not included in the numbers through 2010.