Love scams in elderly population in Japan

[sept4]

This article is from last year but I just read it.

An older lady in Japan targeted older men with assets and savings for relationships and marriage and then poisoned them with cyanide.

Some quotes from the article:

She used a matchmaking agency to get acquainted with elderly victims one after another and poisoned them after making them trust her.

The case captivated Japan and highlighted the dangers lurking online for aging singles vulnerable to love scams.

The four men lived in different cities, worked different jobs and had no connection to each other — except for one thing: they all had considerable savings and assets.
This, combined with their late age and single status, made them perfect targets.

Kakehi and Kijima are on the deadly far end of the spectrum of “love scams” — a type of financial fraud that relies on forming a romantic relationship with the victim. Most don’t end in poisonings or murder, with perpetrators often vanishing once their victims have emptied their wallets.

More than 32 million users are registered on the country’s top 10 dating apps, and around 600 dating and marriage consultancies — like the one Kakehi used — are registered nationwide, according to the Japan Life Design Counselor Association, which grants certification to companies that follow its operating standards.

The Japanese Counseling Organization for Personality Disorder and Marriage Fraud, a Tokyo-based support group for victims of fraud, says it sees about 100 cases of love scams every year.

Victims are often found through marriage consulting companies, which are used to find a serious partner for marriage, the spokesperson said. Victims tend to be lonely divorcees or widows with no family, or family that live far away — and who may have revealed large salaries or financial assets on their profiles, the spokesperson added.

Scammers often ask their victims for expensive birthday presents and other financial demands until their victims have no money left to give. Sometimes, victims are forced to borrow from loan sharks to provide for their fake lovers, the spokesperson said.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/25/asia/japan-black-widow-killer-intl-hnk-dst/index.html

[polestar]

Hi Sept4 –
Yes, the elderly are so vulnerable. Donna has written a book about elderly sociopaths but I’m not sure if it’s available yet ( last time I checked on Amazon it wasn’t out yet ). But anyway, what happened with my great uncle was that after his wife died, he married a younger woman and changed his will ( I’m assuming that she scammed him to do so ) because then after he died, he left no money or assets to my cousins ( his children ). And he never had any problems with them; they were always very loving towards him. That was an interesting article that you posted – it shows that sociopathic con people are a world wide phenomenon. The poisoner was a wopper though. Thanks for your interesting post topics.
Blessings

[sept4]

Thank you polestar.

Yes I think elderly people are extremely vulnerable because 1) they are lonely so they are easily manipulated by scammers offering companionship and “love” and 2) they grew up in a more innocent time without internet and less scammers etc so they are more trusting and unaware of the minefields of modern dating and maybe modern society in general.

[sept4]

Btw as to the changing of your uncles will. My ex is doing the same with his parents. They own two properties outright and they have two children, my ex the sociopath and his sister who is a normal loving kind person. They should get equal inheritance rights but my ex is manipulating his parents to sign both properties over to him and nothing to his sister.

Truly a sociopath view of the world: what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine. They don’t respect the property rights of other people at all. In their mind everything belongs to them.

[polestar]

Hi sept4 –
What you described that your ex is doing to his sister ( trying to cheat her out of her inheritance ) brings up for me feelings of revulsion and disgust. Thank heavens he is out of your life now. There is a book that nosp recommended called “ Cheating in a nutshell; what infidelity does to the victim “ by Wayne and Tamara Mitchell. It is, by the way, one of the most healing books that I have read. They also have one out about friendship ( and what makes some people “ frenemies “ ). I highly recommend them absolutely. But anyway, in the cheating book, they have a whole chapter about disgust. I didn’t know it, but disgust is one of the primary emotions. It is good to be able to recognize it – amazing how vocabulary and words can make us so much more aware. The feeling of disgust is so apt regarding your ex. When people come to my mind from the past who bring up that feeling – I immediately put into effect Mira Kirshenbaum’s 3 steps : 1. Don’t get used to it, 2. Don’t make excuses for it and 3. Know that they won’t change. And then I’m able to dismiss them from my consciousness. You might want to try that strategy in the event your ex comes to mind.
Blessings

[Author]

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