Playback ’14] The “trick” of a beautiful woman on a marriage activity website who made a man buy three condominiums “for Mr. 00”.

What did “FRIDAY” report 10, 20, or 30 years ago? In “Playback Friday,” we take a look back at the topics that were hot at the time. This time, we bring you a story from the June 6, 2002 issue, which was published 10 years ago: “A beautiful woman at an investment company who made a man in search of a marriage buy three condominiums.

The smartphone penetration rate, which was only 4% in ’10, jumped to 46.7% in ’14 (according to NTT Docomo Mobile Society Research Institute). With the spread of smartphones, marriage activity through matching apps gradually became more common. However, there have been “fishy stories” since then. The article is about an investment proposal made by a man who was engaged to a woman. (Descriptions in parentheses are quoted from past articles.)

Believing her words, “I will take care of you forever…

Around May 2010, Masaki Murata (pseudonym, 37 at the time) met a woman who worked as an office worker in Tokyo on a marriage activity website. However, he says that his fondness for this woman led him to buy three investment condominiums. What happened to him?

“She contacted me and said, ‘She seems nice, so why don’t we communicate with her on her cell phone?’ He contacted me and gave me his phone number and e-mail address. She was young, in her early 20s, cute, and seemed solid.

Mr. Murata began having dinner with this woman, who resembled Minami Takahashi of AKB48, once a week. On one date, the woman told him that when she was in elementary school, her father failed in business and went bankrupt, and that she had even thought about killing the family. She also told him that her mother was half bedridden and she had to take care of her parents, and begged him to support her. Mr. Murata, who felt that the woman had confided in him about a sensitive family matter, did not know at this point that she was working for an investment firm.

She always split the cost of meals with him, and she told him, “I don’t like to be paid for my meals. Mr. Murata came to trust her completely, believing that she was not a person who would cheat for money. On their next date, however, she approached him with an investment proposal.

She recommended that he buy a condominium in Setagaya Ward, saying, “If you buy a condominium and rent it out, you can get a tax refund, which is a tax-saving measure for salarymen, and the income from the condominium can be used as a pension in your old age. When Murata voiced his doubts, she responded in a surprising manner.

She said, “This is out of place. I told her, ‘I feel like I’m being sold to.’ She was furious, saying, ‘I’m doing this for Masaki-kun’s benefit. I immediately apologized and she said, ‘I will take care of Masaki-kun in the future,’ and those words made me consider marriage.

Rather than turning down the investment offer, Mr. Murata was so taken in by her that he became completely aware of the possibility of marriage. On their next date, she brought him another property. Her “sales talk” to encourage him to buy a condominium became even more sophisticated.

《I was introduced to two units in Katsushika Ward. The monthly rent income was more than the loan repayment, and he even said, “I told my boss that I would quit the company if I could not close the deal. He even said, “If we don’t close the deal, I’ll quit the company. I couldn’t refuse, could I? At the signing of the contract, her boss also told me, ‘It’s because he was unreasonable. The whole company was involved.

The price of the condominium was 15.7 million yen and 16 million yen. At this stage, there was no physical relationship between the two, but Murata believed her words that she wanted to take care of him forever, so he made a down payment of 2.4 million yen and took out a 35-year loan.

After that, he began to receive e-mails from her saying that she was too busy with work and could not see him, and the days of not seeing her continued for a while. Then, around May of 2011, she sent him a text message saying that she wanted to see him for the first time in a while. However, when Mr. Murata went to see her, eagerly awaiting the date, what awaited him was a “business meeting” at another apartment. Not wanting to be left out, Mr. Murata concluded the purchase of a 23.6 million yen condominium in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, on the same day.

After that contract, they became even more estranged. Six months later, I texted her, ‘It’s Christmas, are you busy?’ I e-mailed him and received a rare reply. He said he wanted a Tiffany & Co. ballpoint pen, so I gave it to him. At that time, the balance for the three units was about negative 6,000 yen a month, but she said, ‘I’ll get that back. She cried, ‘I’ll work until late at night and never have a day off, but I’ll do my best. It’s hard to say, ‘I want to see you,’ when you tell someone about a situation like that.

This was the last time they met.’ By May of 2012, he was no longer responding to e-mails, and when his phone line was disconnected in the fall of that year, Mr. Murata was finally convinced that he had been duped.

She had already quit the company. When I submitted the property for examination, it was worth 60% to half of what it was worth. The income and expenditure simulation chart was also bullshit, and I also found out that there were three or four other people who were duped by her besides myself. As for the Katsushika property, we settled with the real estate company that they would purchase the property for the remaining balance plus an additional amount. However, we have filed a lawsuit against the real estate company and its representative for the Kawaguchi property, and against the investment company, the representative, and her five other people. I can’t even look for a marriage partner anymore, and with nearly 20 million yen in debt, I doubt anyone will take me seriously.

The “marriage activity” for the future has ended up casting an unexpectedly dark shadow over Murata’s future. ……

In January 2002, the National Consumer Affairs Center (NCC) issued a warning about a number of cases in which people have purchased investment condominiums from people they met on marriage activity sites under the pretext of building assets for the future or managing their assets. According to the National Consumer Affairs Center (NCC), the number of consultations on dating business troubles involving apps and dating sites has nearly tripled from 63 in FY11 to 171 in FY20.

The COVID-19 crisis has led to an even greater increase in online person-to-person interactions. Matching apps have also become more common, and men and women are meeting through “papa-katsu,” or “daddy’s activities,” which has led to the emergence of “itari-joshi,” girls who take money from men without regard for their appearance or appearance. It may no longer be unusual for a man like Murata to pay tribute to a woman he believes to be his marriage partner.