Arrested Rip-Off Family Boasts Stolen Cash Online — Shocking Scheme Uncovered

His mother works for an organization supporting people with disabilities

Despicable, cowardly, malicious, and crude — the crimes of a villainous parent and child have come to light.

On July 29, the Metropolitan Police Department’s Security Division arrested seven men and women, including Reo Nagai (21), an unemployed man from Numata, Gunma Prefecture, and his mother, Hiromi Nagai (49), who works for a disability support organization. They are suspected of violating Tokyo’s anti–rip-off bar ordinance and other laws for unfairly charging men they met through a dating app for food and drinks.

“The incident occurred in May this year. Here’s how they operated: Hiromi Nagai lured a man in his 30s, whom she met on a dating app, to Shibuya. Reo Nagai had a female acquaintance wait at the meeting spot and bring the man to a bar. The woman, who was a staff member at the bar, encouraged the man to order all-you-can-drink, serving him large amounts of expensive alcohol. At the bill, they falsely claimed he had consumed drinks not included in the plan and demanded 360,000 yen. Since the man paid, they thought they could extract more money. They added further false claims — there was a mistake in the billing, because you kept us busy, we lost reservations — and demanded an additional 432,000 yen, bringing the total ripped from him to about 4.7 million yen,” said a social affairs reporter.

Hiromi Nagai working at a disability support organization only adds to the shock.

“Reo had previously worked as a club promoter in Tokyo and often told his mother he was struggling financially and considering side jobs. At first, Hiromi tried to persuade him to stop when she learned he was scamming people with bar staff. But once she realized how easily he could make money, she joined in, using dating apps to lure victims,” said an investigator.

From January to May this year, they contacted 200 men and successfully lured about 90 to meeting spots. Of these, six men paid a total of approximately 8.8 million yen. Hiromi Nagai reportedly took 420,000 yen as her share. Reo even bragged about the cash stolen from victims in a group chat on SNS, and his mother jokingly asked for a gift for Mother’s Day after seeing the photos.

According to police, Hiromi Nagai stated: “I did it lightly without thinking. Our household income was insufficient, and I joined in to supplement it. Even though I should have stopped it, I helped because I wanted the money.”

Truly, like mother, like son.