Fake Police May be Casing Foreigners, Stealing Identities
If you are a foreigner in Japan, you may want to take a good look at the officer the next time you are asked to show your ID, especially if at your own home.
I just caught this story at a online blog community called Expats Japan. You can see it here. In the article, the poster tells of a suspicious cop who came to her home and asked for personal information. She later called the local police and sure enough, they knew of no such information collecting activities being performed by their own officers. They offered the following advice:
1) the police department usually sends officers out in pairs, not alone, to someone’s door
2) if the police want to collect personal info, they will tell you explicitly what it’s for (and this would be a very rare case). if language is an issue, they would encourage you to call a japanese speaking friend or would just leave and return later with an (insert your language here) speaker
3) police officers will always show clear IDs, and you can copy down their ID numbers for your records
4) police officers who come to your door will always be wearing large badges, also with ID numbers
5) and of course the usual….always keep your door locked, hide your valuables, don’t answer the door to anyone you don’t know, blah, blah, blah.
I wonder how prevalent this type of casing/Identity theft scam is. Maybe we could give it a name, like the Ore Ore scam (オレオレ詐欺）. Shomei Shomei scam (証明証明詐欺)? See, it rhymes with ore, but if you have a more amusing one leave a comment.
Be safe kids, officers have to show you their ID if they are asking for yours, and keep in mind what your rights are in such situations.
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I’m not sure if Ore and Shome have any significance here but i got one: Bire Bire Scam, Kube Kube Scam!! lol
The first thing that I thought when I saw this show up on my friends-list (via feed) is, “hey! You mean it happened to more than just that one girl on expats Japan yesterday?” I was surprised when I heard that you got it from there! XD;;
What’s your lj username? I assume that you have one…
I bet they only prey on girls … weak.
Clearly they are stealing the identities of foreigners so they can use the personal info to apply for loans from Japanese banks and get rejected.
I was in Mita Station a couple months ago, and a guy in plain clothing, showed me his police badge and said he wanted to see my passport. I told him I didn’t have it and that I have lived here for 3 years. I kept saying no but finally, since I was on my way to class and he was holding me up, I showed him my gaijin card. I don’t think he was a real police officer and his excuse was that “many foreigners commit crimes.” At that time, I didn’t know my rights (I do now!) and was a little worried that I would get in trouble. Not sure if this was identity theft, but be careful in subway stations as well.
I think the duty to carry gaijin card make no sense.
You can identify a person in a lot of other ways.
I think it should be abolished.
Definitely learn how to ask people if they’re cops, and if you can see a badge, in Japanese. It’s helpful in a lot of situations.
Quite a lot of countries require you to carry identification.
I was pissed off at first that Japan demanded it.
Then, I went and visited the US and Canada and the rules are the same.
The identification obligation to police officers also exists in most of Europe. Not just for foreigners, but for everyone of 13 years old and older.
Kids younger then 12 do not need identification.
in the US you do not need to carry ID.
Technically, perhaps, but they’ll get you on other charges just for being an asshole (ie standing up to them):
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/03/1449200&from=rss
You do if you are a foreigner. INS sez so. US citizens do not have to carry ID in the US, just like Japanese citizens do not have to carry ID in Japan.
I think the guy really was a cop who was doing his koban rounds and hadn`t reported to the HQ yet. If he was a scam artist it would be pretty stupid to go to each door in the building since someone would recognize he was a fkae eventually. Japanese can likely spot a fake cop easier than a 7 month gaijin dont you think?
Once in a blue moon a lone policeman does rounds, from the local koban I assume. I just happened to be home when he stopped by and did what every other single Japanese person does, ignore him.
He looked pretty real, uniformed, in the door camera.
He left a pretty legitimate looking “Your local police stopped by to say “Hi”" slip in the mail slot.
But, there are these auxiliary police (or something), the ones who seem to be some kind of wannabe cop, or retired cops, who sometimes even get real-ish uniforms, and go around hassling young people and foreigners.
I’ve only been approached once by one of these types, just plainclothes with a silly cap, but when I started to basically ask “Who are you?” and act innocently confused, a real uniformed cop swooped in from a few meters away and took over, and just let me go on my way.
Wannabe cops are definitely dangerous personalities.
Gaijin cards are outrageous so is the finger scan at the immigration office.
They are just as outrageous as Green Cards and US VISIT in the US.
What’s your point in bringing that up? Of course they’re both ridiculous. He never said otherwise.
I would not mind the fingerprint scan at the airport if they could do away with the Thou Shalt Carry Thy Gaijin Card At All Times commandment. I’ve heard several tales of how heavy the cops can get if this commandment is broken, and while I haven’t been asked for mine by a random cop since 1991, it is still a hassle to worry about always having it.