Reporting a scam in Japan
First hour, in order
- Call your bank. Call your bank immediately. Japan's law on transfer fraud allows compensation from frozen accounts in some cases.
- Stop paying. No fee, tax or "release payment" ever unlocks money that does not exist.
- Screenshot everything before you delete an app, block a number or close an account.
- Then report using the routes below. Reporting is slower than the bank call, and less urgent — but it is what produces enforcement.
Japan’s general consumer route is the 188 hotline, which connects you to a local consumer affairs centre. Japan also has its own long-established impersonation scam, ore-ore sagi, covered on its own page.
Dial 188 to reach your nearest consumer affairs centre.
Where to report
Also worth using
What not to do
- Do not pay anyone to recover your money. No legitimate service charges an up-front fee to get stolen funds back, and people who have just been scammed are the primary market for recovery scams.
- Do not use contact details the scammer gave you — not the phone number, not the "support" chat, not a link in a message. Look the agency up yourself.
- Do not delete the evidence. Apps, chats, wallet addresses and transaction IDs are what make a report actionable.
- Do not send one more payment. This is where most of the largest losses happen.
Sources
- 消費者ホットライン (Consumer Hotline). Consumer Affairs Agency, Japan. Accessed 2026-09-06.