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Fake astronaut scams OAP telling her 'I'm stuck in space, send me money for oxygen'

A scammer posing as an astronaut 'in space' and 'under attack' has successfully stolen thousands of pounds from an unsuspecting elder on the Japanese island of Hokkaido

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Fake astronauts scams octogenarian out of thousands by asking her to help him stop "space crash"

A elderly woman has been scammed out of almost 5,000 after falling in online love with a conman posing as an astronaut, police have said. The smitten senior, living on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, found the fraudster on social media in July.

But things turned sour when he told her that he was living in space on a spaceship right now and that he urgently needed her money as the spacecraft was under attack and he was in need of oxygen.

According to the criminal, he would be able to use her cash, transferred through online outlets, to buy oxygen that would keep him alive. The gullible grandma ended up sending over 1 million yen to help him out, the equivalent of more than 5,000.

[The hot springs resort town of Jozankei in Hokkaido, Japan.]

Hokkaido, in northern Japan, is a popular resort location famous for its hot springs

The woman reportedly lived alone and caught feelings for the fraudster as their online conversations deepened. Japanese police have described the case as a classic example of a romance scam, which has become a national crisis in the country.

In a statement on the case, an official warned: "If a person you met on social media ever demanded cash from you, please be suspicious of the possibility of scam, and report to police."

These kinds of scams have become commonplace in Japan which has the second-oldest population in the world, second only to Monaco.

Japanese police recorded 3,326 romance scams in the first 11 months of 2024, double the amount than over the same period in 2023. Victims were hoodwinked out of a total of 173.8 million over that period, also double than the previous year.

[WENCHANG, CHINA - AUGUST 26: A Long March-8A carrier rocket carrying a new group of low Earth orbit satellites blasts off from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site on August 26, 2025 in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China. The satellite group, the tenth of its kind that will constitute an internet constellation, was launched at 3:08 a.m. (Beijing Time) aboard a Long March-8A carrier rocket. The satellites entered the preset orbit successfully. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)]

The scammer stole over 5,000 from the hapless lady

Police have started taking extreme measures to curb these crimes, including using AI to identify elders on their phones at the ATM, flagged as a sure-fire sign of somebody being scammed.

An Osaka-based attorney has stated that: "It has become increasingly common for crooks to go after seniors, many of whom live alone."

The elderly, experts warn, are particularly vulnerable as they often arent familiar with technology, are fairly financially stable thanks to generous state pensions, and might be suffering from old-age related health issues such as dementia which can make it difficult to exercise good judgement.

Similar cases have also taken place in the UK. One in 10 British adults claim that they, or somebody they know, has been targeted by a romance scam. It is the elderly who are particularly vulnerable here too, with victims in the over 60s age bracket losing on average 19,000 to fraudsters, double the average of 8,000 lost by younger scamees.

In July, a survey of 1,000 Brits revealed that 41% of respondents believe their elderly loved ones would fall victim to a scam if targeted, with 30% admitting that their older relatives engage in risky online behaviour.

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