In 2025, Japanese citizens lost a combined ¥324.11 billion, about ₹19,100 crore, to fraud. It is the highest number ever recorded in a country that, until recently, was known for safes left unlocked and wallets returned through the post. Romance scams alone, conducted through social media, accounted for ¥55.22 billion across 5,604 reported cases. The National Police Agency calls this category SNS-gata romansu sagi, or social-media-type romance fraud, and it has doubled year on year.
