Is there love at a distance?
A 65-year-old woman from Japan paid 4.4 million yen ($30,000) for a return ticket to Earth for a man posing as a Russian cosmonaut.
The scammer in June contacted a woman from Japan on Instagram and told her that he was a Russian cosmonaut from the ISS, and then asked her to continue communicating in the Japanese messenger Line. According to the Japanese edition of Yomiuri Shimbun, the attacker told the woman that he wanted to settle in Japan and marry her. In addition, he confessed his love to her many times in the course of correspondence.
However, according to the “astronaut”, he first needs to return to Earth. He asked the victim to cover the costs, including flying a rocket and “landing fee.” The woman believed him and transferred 4.4 million yen in five installments from August 19 to September 5.
As the man’s requests continued, the woman suspected deception and contacted the police. According to local media reports, she believed the man because in correspondence with her he mentioned the names of real organizations such as NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.
Police are currently investigating.