A Phone Call Out of the Blue
Around 2 PM on a weekday in November 2024, the landline phone rang at the home of Mr. Tanaka (pseudonym, a man in his 60s living in Tokyo). He picked up the receiver and heard a young man's voice say "Dad, it's me." Mr. Tanaka has a son in his 30s, but something about the voice felt off. The caller said "I have a cold so my voice sounds different," but Mr. Tanaka noticed that his son's habitual phrase "ano sa" (a Japanese filler meaning "hey, listen") never appeared once.
Mr. Tanaka sensed "this might be a scam" but decided to continue the conversation without hanging up. He had two reasons: he wanted to learn the scammer's tactics firsthand, and he figured that as long as he kept the scammer on the phone, the scammer could not call anyone else.
The Scammer's Tactics - A Chronological Reconstruction
0-5 Minutes: Building Trust
The scammer opened with "I've been so busy with work I haven't been able to call. Sorry about that." When Mr. Tanaka asked "Have you been doing well?" the response was a vague "More or less." The scammer avoided specific topics, using innocuous conversation to solidify the premise of being "the son."
Mr. Tanaka tested the scammer by asking "How was that restaurant we went to last Sunday?" (they had not actually gone out together). The scammer replied "Oh, that place. It was alright." At this point, Mr. Tanaka was certain it was a scam.
5-15 Minutes: Presenting the Problem
The scammer suddenly lowered his tone and said "Something terrible has happened." "I misused company funds. If I don't return 3 million yen by today, they'll report me to the police." This is the classic pattern of bank transfer fraud.
When Mr. Tanaka responded "3 million yen, that's serious," the scammer began performing a crying voice: "I don't want to trouble you, Dad, but I have no one else to turn to." Internally impressed by the acting, Mr. Tanaka played along: "So what should I do?"
15-25 Minutes: Presenting the Solution and Directing
The scammer said "My supervisor wants to explain the situation to you directly" and handed the phone to another person. A man with a deep voice began speaking politely: "I am Mr. So-and-so from Such-and-such Company. I apologize for the trouble regarding your son." This "supervisor" role was designed to get Mr. Tanaka to prepare cash.
The supervisor said "If you can pay 3 million yen today, the company will handle this quietly. We won't involve the police." He then proposed the cash handoff method: "A colleague of your son's will come to pick it up." This is the tactic of dispatching a receiver.
25-40 Minutes: Mr. Tanaka's Counter-Questions
From this point, Mr. Tanaka went on the offensive. He fired rapid questions: "Could you tell me the company name again?" "What department?" "What is the company's main phone number?" The supervisor answered the company name and department but when asked for the main phone number, made excuses: "I'm out of the office right now and don't have it on hand."
Mr. Tanaka pressed further: "Then please tell me the company website URL." "What is my son's employee number?" "When did he join the company?" The scammer increasingly struggled to respond, and finally said "Let me put your son back on" and hung up. The call had lasted approximately 40 minutes.
Why Mr. Tanaka Saw Through the Scam
When interviewed, Mr. Tanaka cited the following reasons for detecting the fraud.
- He knew his son's speech habits: His son always starts conversations with "ano sa." The scammer never used it
- He tested with a fictional event: The scammer agreed to a fabricated story about "the restaurant we visited," confirming the deception
- He already knew about scam tactics: Having seen special fraud coverage on TV and in newspapers, he could recognize the pattern
- He maintained composure: The moment he thought "this might be a scam," he shifted to an observer's mindset rather than becoming emotional
As the flip side of traits that make people vulnerable to scams, recognizing "I too could be deceived" while maintaining the ability to respond calmly was the decisive factor.
Lessons from This Experience
Mr. Tanaka's experience teaches concrete strategies for handling scam calls.
- Verify with information only family knows: Use speech habits, nicknames, shared memories - information the scammer cannot know - to confirm identity
- Bring up fictional topics: Ask about events that never happened and see if the other person agrees
- Ask specific, verifiable questions: Request company names, phone numbers, websites - information that can be verified. Scammers are weak against specific questions
- Hang up and call back: The most reliable method is to hang up and call your family member's actual mobile phone
Mr. Tanaka says "I stayed on for 40 minutes partly so the scammer couldn't call someone else during that time." However, police advise "If you realize it's a scam, hang up immediately and report it." Extended conversations with scammers also carry the risk of having your own personal information extracted. Familiarize yourself with how to report scams in advance. Recommended nonfiction Reading about real fraud cases also helps raise crime prevention awareness.
What Happened After
After the 40-minute call ended, Mr. Tanaka took immediate action. His subsequent response serves as a model for post-scam-call handling.
Reporting to the Police
After the call, Mr. Tanaka first contacted his son's actual mobile phone to confirm he was safe. He then called the police consultation hotline (#9110) and reported the details of the scam call - the source number from his call history, the time of the call, the company name and representative name the scammer used, and the amount demanded. The police responded: "Thank you for this valuable information. Similar tactics have been prevalent in the area, and we will use this in our investigation." Mr. Tanaka's report was cross-referenced with information from other victims who received calls from the same number, contributing to the identification of the criminal group.
Sharing Information with Family
The following day, Mr. Tanaka gathered his son's family and daughter's family for a meal and shared his scam call experience. He conveyed the specific tactics to everyone: the "I have a cold" voice excuse, the theatrical approach with a supervisor character, and the "by today" time pressure. At this gathering, they established a new family code word and set a rule to always confirm it whenever money comes up in a phone call. Mr. Tanaka's wife (in her 70s) said "I might have been fooled. I'm glad I heard about the specific tactics."
Strengthening Security Measures
Prompted by this experience, Mr. Tanaka switched to keeping his landline's voicemail always on. He now follows a strict practice of not answering calls from unknown numbers and checking voicemail messages before calling back. He is also considering upgrading to a phone with nuisance call filtering features. "The 40-minute experience gave me a real understanding of scam tactics. Knowing about them in theory versus experiencing them firsthand are completely different," Mr. Tanaka reflects.
Participating in Community Crime Prevention
Mr. Tanaka took on the role of crime prevention committee member in his local neighborhood association and began sharing his experience at fraud prevention seminars for seniors. "Real accounts of interacting with scammers resonate with participants far more than textbook explanations," he says. At the seminars, he recreates the specific phrases the scammer used, the changes in vocal tone, and the timing of the handoff to the supervisor role, running workshop-style sessions where participants consider "What would I do?" An 80-year-old woman who attended commented "I had no idea it was this sophisticated. I'm going to set up a code word with my grandchildren." Mr. Tanaka's activities have contributed to raising crime prevention awareness in the community, and fraud cases in the neighborhood association have remained at zero since the activities began.