Japanese celebrities raising alarm over social media fraud

Amid a surge in social media fraud cases in which Japanese celebrities’ photographs are used without permission in fake advertisements to lure victims into making investments, those who have been impersonated in such ads have started to take preventative action.

They are appearing on related police awareness videos and posting alert messages on their own social media accounts.

According to the National Police Agency, the amount of money stolen in investment fraud through social media platforms in Japan in January-June rocketed about seven times from a year earlier to ¥50.6 billion ($344 million). In half of such fraud cases, perpetrators asked for investments by pretending to be celebrities or famous investors.