Female Scammer Defrauds Man of 300,000 Yen by Claiming Need for STD Testing

He may have thought he was being a bit clever.

Misaki Watanabe, 28, a suspect with an unknown occupation, was arrested on July 30 by the Osaki Police Station of the Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of fraud for swindling a man in his 20s whom she met on a matching app out of approximately 300,000 yen in cash in the name of “STD testing fees.

The two met on a matching app in March of this year. It seems that neither of them was looking for a serious relationship, but rather a so-called “discrete” relationship. It is said that Watanabe was the one who aggressively approached the suspect.

After exchanging a number of messages, they came to an agreement and met for the first time at a hotel in Tokyo in late March.

After checking into a hotel in Shinagawa Ward, Watanabe demanded money from the man, saying, “I want you to lend me the money for an STD test,” and “Let’s do it only after I get tested and find out it’s safe. The suspects then demanded money from me, saying, “I am a fourth-year law student at a famous private university, and I have passed the bar exam and will start working at a law firm in the spring. So I will never commit fraud or anything like that,’ he boasted. In fact, there was no indication that Watanabe was enrolled at a private university, and he had no plans to work as a lawyer.

The two checked out of the hotel without doing anything, and at an ATM in a convenience store near JR Meguro Station, the man withdrew 300,000 yen and gave it to the suspect.

After receiving the money, Watanabe asked the man for his bank card and took a picture of the account number and other information with his smartphone. He reassured the man that he would transfer the borrowed 300,000 yen to this account tomorrow. He also showed her a picture of a famous tower block in Shinjuku and said, ‘I live here. If you think about it, there is no way that a STD test costs 300,000 yen, but the man was easily fooled.

After that, when he could not contact Watanabe at all, the man filed a damage report. This led to his arrest. Watanabe denies the charges, but the Metropolitan Police Department has received several reports of similar attempts.