Former Scamster Slams Today’s Dark Part-Time Jobs: Fools Join Just for the Money

Their methods have become sloppy

Crimes involving illegal dark part-time jobs show no signs of stopping. In May this year, the arrest of several people, including minors, as the perpetrators of a robbery-murder in Kaminokawa, Tochigi Prefecture, attracted widespread attention. A man who was previously arrested for involvement in special fraud schemes says that many of the recent crimes involving illegal job recruitment are poorly executed. Having once served as an organizer giving instructions in special fraud operations, how does he view the latest wave of these crimes?

“I was arrested for fraud about 10 years ago and spent around four years in prison. Back then, I was involved in bank-transfer fraud, and I was the one giving instructions to the people working under me.”

The man speaking is Mr. Kato (pseudonym), who once engaged in special fraud schemes. He says that recent crimes have become sloppy because organizers are using people recruited through social media and other channels whose identities they know nothing about.

“You don’t need qualifications or an educational background to do these dark part-time jobs. Anyone can do them. In particular, all it takes to become the person carrying out a tataki (robbery) is the willingness to do it. But in the underworld, trust is essential. You won’t be entrusted with a job unless your abilities have been recognized.

These days, however, people are simply recruited in large numbers through social media and put to work in these schemes. As a result, there’s no proper coordination. Most of the crimes are committed by people who aren’t very bright and simply copy previous cases because they think they can make money.” (Mr. Kato; same attribution below)

The organizers of these illegal jobs oversee the entire fraud operation, while recruiters specialize in gathering people. Recently, more cases have emerged in which one person takes on both roles, making the planning sloppy from the outset, he says.

“Even when organizing a tataki, the person giving instructions must thoroughly investigate the situation before sending the perpetrators to the scene. They need to check whether police are lying in wait, whether patrols are operating nearby, whether any suspicious vehicles are parked there, and whether there will be many or few people around.

They also have to plan everything, including how to collect and move the cash and valuables after the crime. Only people who have made a living through crime have this kind of know-how. Looking at recent cases, I don’t think they’re being planned with anything like that level of precision.”

Even special fraud schemes have changed

According to Mr. Kato, the former organizer, the robbery-murder in Kaminokawa was also an extremely sloppy operation.

“The crowbar used as a weapon was apparently purchased in advance by the man who led the operation, then handed to the teenage perpetrator through the married couple who acted as organizers. That’s something you would never normally see. You don’t buy tools for a crime in a way that leaves a trail leading straight back to you.

The fact that the vehicle used in the crime immediately became a target of the investigation also shows their lack of experience. If it were us, we would avoid the expressways and travel on ordinary roads. We’d have another stolen vehicle with counterfeit license plates waiting along the escape route, switch cars, and throw the police investigation off track. From what I’ve seen in news reports, I thought this was probably not the work of someone experienced in organized crime, but simply an imitation of other cases.”

He says that methods used in special fraud schemes have also changed. One notable shift is that the amounts stolen in each crime have become smaller.

“In the past, we would maintain contact with a single victim over a long period, build a relationship of trust, and deceive them into handing over money on multiple occasions. It was important to psychologically manipulate victims so they wouldn’t consult the police. Today, because inexperienced groups and individuals are entering the special fraud business, we’re seeing more cases in which they steal several hundred thousand yen within a short period and immediately cut off contact with the victim.

The same amount of money means something very different to someone with ¥100 million in assets and someone whose entire savings amount to just ¥1 million. People who don’t have much money tend to rush straight to the police, and every time that happens, the bank account gets frozen. The biggest problem for fraud groups is having their accounts frozen, so their methods seem rather short-sighted.”

Finally, I asked Mr. Kato what kind of people are targeted for recruitment as perpetrators of illegal dark part-time jobs.

“To put it bluntly, anyone can be a perpetrator. No special abilities or experience are needed. As long as someone is willing to do it, that’s enough. People who are short of money are particularly attractive targets. The approach of saying, ‘If you’re broke, take this job and make some money,’ has been around for a long time. People struggling to make ends meet are more likely to jump at the chance to get money right in front of them, and they also tend to be tough-minded. The criminal organizations deliberately approach people like that.”

The group chat that Mr. Kato once used to recruit people for illegal dark part-time jobs still frequently receives posts advertising various criminal schemes. These jobs are something people should never get involved in under any circumstances. And given that even someone with firsthand experience describes them as sloppy, there is all the more reason to stay away.