Fact #31 NumbersPsychology

68.6%of Japan's special-fraud losses came from police-impersonation calls in 2025

Police-impersonation fraud made up 38.7% of Japan's special-fraud cases but 68.6% of the money lost in the first eleven months of 2025, and 99.0% of it began with a telephone call.

In the first half of 2025 the average loss per completed fake police case was ¥8.287 million, against ¥2.549 million for all other special fraud. These are provisional police counts of alleged offences.

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Source: National Police Agency, Japan · National Police Agency, Japan. Read more: ore ore sagi, government impersonation · case file

Read the full page

• Ore-ore sagi and Japan's special fraud: how it works
• Government impersonation: how it works
• The case file behind this fact

Sources

1. 令和7年11月末における特殊詐欺及びSNS型投資・ロマンス詐欺の認知・検挙状況等について（暫定値）. National Police Agency, Japan. Accessed 2026-09-06. Supports: The provisional figures through November 2025: 9,642 cases, ¥83.19bn, the 38.7% and 68.6% shares, the 99.0% telephone contact, the 218 sexual victimisation cases and the 86,180 international numbers.
2. 令和7年上半期における特殊詐欺及びSNS型投資・ロマンス詐欺の認知・検挙状況等について（暫定値）. National Police Agency, Japan. Accessed 2026-09-06. Supports: The first-half 2025 figures: 4,737 fake police cases, 4,601 of 6,278 ore-ore cases, the per-case averages of ¥8.287m and ¥2.549m, the age distribution by count and by amount, and the note that these statistics began in January 2025.