An Art Student, a Sex Worker, a Heiress—The Women Who Helped Build the Luffy Group’s ¥6 Billion Criminal Empire

Woman are better suited to fraud

The series of nationwide robberies carried out by the “Luffy Group” between 2022 and 2023 has now been more than four years ago. Yet crimes involving scams and robberies committed by recruits from so-called “dark part-time jobs” (yami baito)—a model popularized by the group—continue unabated.

The special fraud syndicate led by Yuki Watanabe (38 at the time of his arrest), considered the predecessor of the Luffy Group, reportedly had as many as 200 members. Among them were female con artists.

Tomonobu Kojima (45), one of the group’s top leaders, told the author during an interview at the Tokyo Detention House:

“Women are better suited to fraud. The people targeted by scam calls are often elderly men, and they’re more likely to let their guard down when speaking with a young woman.

In our group, there were almost no phone operators whose monthly sales—that is, scam proceeds—fell below 10 million yen. When we found a promising victim who looked likely to fall for the scam, it wasn’t unusual to deliberately transfer the call to a female operator.”

The Luffy Group had fewer than 20 female members.

How did these women of Luffy become fraudsters, and how did they go on to swindle enormous sums of money?

Based on the author’s new book, “Luffy Behind Bars: The People Who Created the ‘Dark Part-Time Job’ System” (Kodansha), published on June 24, this article traces their lives.

The women’s backgrounds varied widely. Some had been art school students, others came from wealthy families, while some had worked in the sex industry. Some applied believing they were signing up for resort jobs. Others, unable to pay debts they owed to host clubs, were effectively sold to the organization for as little as 500,000 yen.

What they all had in common was that they joined these illegal jobs because they wanted money for entertainment or were burdened by debt.

Within the Luffy Group, female phone operators were especially valued.

One reason was their effectiveness in deceiving elderly victims over the phone, as Kojima explained.

Another was that the group’s leader, Watanabe, had a weakness for women.

While based in the Philippines, where many of the crimes were orchestrated, Watanabe reportedly had several mistresses. Even that wasn’t enough for him. He went so far as to devise what he called a “harem plan,” recruiting female phone operators specifically for that purpose. Although the plan ultimately failed, Watanabe skillfully exploited the women in the organization throughout the process.

For example, Chiaki Shibata (29), who was arrested in November 2019 on theft charges related to the series of fraud cases, was one of Watanabe’s mistresses.

On seven separate occasions, she transported approximately ¥300 million in cash—money fraudulently obtained in Japan—to the Philippines in suitcases. Her willingness to take on such dangerous assignments was reportedly driven by her romantic feelings for Watanabe.

The author has also conducted extensive interviews with Risa Yamada (26), who claimed to have defrauded victims of around ¥600 million and referred to herself as the legendary phone operator.

Yamada, who had previously worked in the sex industry before becoming a scam caller, likewise admired Watanabe and the group’s senior members.

Among the more than 400 letters she wrote was the following passage:

“The senior members treated me incredibly well, and whenever I produced good numbers, they praised me so much. I’d never experienced anything like that in my life, so it made me genuinely happy. I thought Mr. Watanabe was the greatest boss in Japan.”

From an outsider’s perspective, it was obvious that Yamada was little more than a disposable pawn to the organization’s leaders.

Even so, she regarded those senior members as her companions.

The July 17–24 combined issue of “FRIDAY,” released on July 3, along with the paid digital edition “FRIDAY GOLD,” provides more detailed coverage of Yamada and other female fraudsters who played key roles within the organization, including their backgrounds and activities.

Click below to read the full story and view additional photos.

From the July 17–24, 2026, combined issue of “FRIDAY”