One of the weirder forms of fraud that took place in Japan a few years ago was the "Ore, Ore" scam. "Ore" means "me." In Japan, when people make phonecalls, they don't give their names at the beginning of the call. They just say "It's me," and expect the other person to figure out who it is from their voice. The scammers would use this approach when calling older people, adding that they have a cold which makes them sound different, then demand that the person they're calling transfer money to their account because they're strapped for cash. The victim assumes that the caller is a sick relative and does the transfer without ever asking for the caller's name. This scam has gone on for years, and one of the local banks has a manga-like poster warning older people to call the police if they receive a suspicious call. Not sure this has actually helped at all. On the other hand, I haven't heard any statistics lately indicating that the practice is still an on-going problem.
Then again, a nearby poster warns that it's against the law to steal people's bank account numbers if you're a demon. Banks have joined in the fight against demons. They don't like the competition.
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