Japanese police have arrested two people suspected of helping a fake police fraud group steal cryptocurrency worth approximately 81 million yen from a woman in her forties. According to reporting cited from FNN, investigators believe the scheme was operated from Cambodia and relied on criminals impersonating Japanese police officers to pressure victims into transferring assets. The latest arrests involve 31-year-old Saki Okayama and 38-year-old Mitsuki Minamisawa, who are suspected of participating in a larger organization. Police say confirmed losses linked to cases involving the two suspects have reached approximately 240 million yen overall.
Authorities believe the broader operation was directed by a Chinese national from a suspected fraud center in Cambodia. The available reporting does not say that either Okayama or Minamisawa has been convicted. Both remain suspects, and the allegations concern their possible involvement in the network under investigation.
Victim was told her bank card was tied to money laundering
The alleged scheme began with a telephone call from a man claiming to represent the Osaka Prefectural Police. According to FNN, the caller told the woman that her bank card had appeared among accounts connected to a large money laundering investigation.
The fraudsters allegedly claimed that a separate fraud case had caused 600 billion yen in losses and that roughly 400 accounts had been used to launder money. The caller then told the woman that she was close to being arrested and needed to prove her innocence.
Police believe this false accusation eventually pressured the victim into transferring cryptocurrency worth around 81 million yen. Reports valued the assets at approximately $515,000 using the conversion cited in coverage of the case.
Investigators have not publicly identified which cryptocurrencies were transferred. They have also not disclosed the wallet addresses that received the assets. As a result, the available information does not establish how the cryptocurrency was later moved, converted, or withdrawn after leaving the victim’s control.
Police suspect a larger organization based in Cambodia
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department believes the two arrested suspects were part of a wider fraud organization rather than acting alone. According to FNN, known losses from fraud cases involving Okayama and Minamisawa have reached approximately 240 million yen.
Investigators suspect the group maintained an operational base in Cambodia, more than 4,000 kilometers from Japan. Police also believe a Chinese national acted as the person directing the operation.
The reporting currently available does not identify the exact location of the suspected fraud center in Cambodia or name the wider organization allegedly involved. It also does not connect the current investigation to any previously identified criminal group.
The distinction remains important because the case is still under investigation. The two arrested individuals have not been reported as convicted, and police are continuing to examine the organization, its suspected overseas base, and the role of the person believed to have directed its activities.
Fake police scams are causing growing losses across Japan
The arrests come as Japan reports a sharp rise in financial losses caused by criminals impersonating police officers. The National Police Agency said fake police scams caused 61.71 billion yen in losses during the first seven months of 2026.
Authorities recorded 5,422 cases through the end of July. Although the number of cases fell 6.4% compared with the same period a year earlier, financial losses increased 25.7%.
The figures show that fake police schemes remain one of the most expensive categories of special fraud in the country. The National Police Agency began treating fake police fraud as a separate statistical category in 2026 because the method had become increasingly common.
Across all types of special fraud, losses reached 210.81 billion yen through July, up 42.9% from a year earlier. During the first half of 2026 alone, fake police scams caused 50.79 billion yen in losses.
Police statistics put the average completed fake police case at around 11.64 million yen during that first-half period. The approximately 81 million yen allegedly taken in the latest cryptocurrency case was therefore substantially above that average.
Fraudsters repeatedly use threats of arrest to pressure victims
Japanese police have documented repeated cases in which impersonators tell victims that they are under investigation, that an arrest warrant exists, or that their money must be transferred to establish innocence.
The latest case follows that pattern. The victim was allegedly told that her card was connected to money laundering and that she risked arrest unless she could prove she was not involved.
A separate case reported on Sept. 25 involved a man in his seventies who lost approximately 73 million yen after callers claiming to represent the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department asked him to move money to prove his innocence.
Police have stressed that investigators do not instruct people to transfer money to designated accounts. That warning directly addresses the pressure tactic used in these schemes, where victims are told that moving funds is necessary to cooperate with an investigation or avoid arrest.
Cryptocurrency is becoming part of Japan’s fraud controls
Japanese regulators are also strengthening controls around situations in which fraud proceeds move through cryptocurrency exchanges. In August, the Financial Services Agency and the National Police Agency asked exchanges to consider withdrawal delays and stronger checks on newly registered wallet addresses.
The proposed measures include waiting periods before new withdrawal addresses can be used, stronger transaction monitoring, and restrictions when account behavior appears inconsistent with a customer’s usual activity.
Authorities have separately asked exchanges to improve phishing-resistant authentication and respond more quickly when police identify suspicious transactions.
The requests followed rapidly rising fraud losses. National Police Agency figures showed 18,067 special-fraud cases and 151.47 billion yen in losses through May. Fake police schemes accounted for 40.32 billion yen of that amount.
These measures do not establish how the cryptocurrency in the latest case was handled after the transfer. However, they show that regulators are paying closer attention to the point where fraud proceeds enter or move through digital-asset services.
Police are also warning about crypto investment scams
Japanese police have issued separate warnings about cryptocurrency investment fraud. An updated notice from the Metropolitan Police says authorities continue receiving reports from people persuaded through social networks and matching applications to transfer cryptocurrency to fraudulent investment platforms.
A separate September case in Gifu involved a woman in her seventies who was allegedly told by people posing as police officers and prosecutors to convert assets into cryptocurrency for an investigation.
According to police reporting, she lost cryptocurrency worth 39.29 million yen as well as another 2 million yen in cash. That case used a similar claim that transferring or converting assets was necessary because of a supposed official investigation.
The examples show how cryptocurrency is being incorporated into several forms of fraud rather than appearing only in investment scams. In the current 81 million yen case, the alleged demand followed a false police accusation rather than an investment pitch.
Cambodia connection points to a broader regional enforcement issue
The suspected Cambodia base in the latest case matches a broader pattern that authorities across Asia have been investigating involving fraud operations run from overseas compounds.
Japan arrested an alleged senior Prince Group figure in June while authorities examined links between the Cambodia-based conglomerate and international fraud networks. Tokyo police arrested Hu Xiaowei over an alleged false residency registration while investigating his activities in Japan.
The current fake police case has not been publicly linked to Prince Group. Available police reporting does not identify the suspected Cambodia location or the organization behind the operation, so no connection between the cases has been established.
Other Asian authorities have also identified Cambodia links in separate cryptocurrency fraud investigations. South Korean police arrested 23 people in June over an alleged USDT laundering operation serving a Cambodia-based phishing network.
That South Korean investigation involved 16.8 billion won in suspected laundering activity and more than 11,000 bank accounts.
Cambodia has moved to strengthen penalties for scam operations
Cambodia has also taken steps to strengthen criminal penalties aimed at online scam operations. Its Senate approved legislation in April covering people involved in scam compounds and related organized fraud activity.
The legislation came as Cambodian authorities faced increased pressure over fraud centers operating in the country. The material provided does not establish any direct connection between that legislation and the specific Japanese investigation involving Okayama and Minamisawa.
For Japanese investigators, the immediate focus remains the organization behind the latest case. Police are continuing to examine the suspected Chinese director, the Cambodia-based operations, and the other fraud cases associated with the arrested suspects.
FNN reported that confirmed fraud losses involving Okayama and Minamisawa currently total approximately 240 million yen. That figure includes cases linked to the suspects and is broader than the 81 million yen allegedly taken from the woman in her forties.
The latest arrests therefore sit within two wider trends described by authorities: increasing financial losses from fake police scams inside Japan and greater attention to cross-border fraud operations that use overseas bases and cryptocurrency transfers.
The investigation remains ongoing. Police have not disclosed the cryptocurrencies involved, the receiving wallet addresses, or the later movement of the funds. They also have not reported a conviction of either suspect. What has been established in the available reporting is that investigators suspect a Cambodia-based organization used fake police claims to pressure a victim into transferring around 81 million yen in cryptocurrency, while related cases involving the two arrested suspects have produced confirmed losses of about 240 million yen.
Police continue working to identify others connected to the operation.
