A 22-year-old Japanese woman got arrested for allegedly scamming over ¥400,000 from a man in his seventies using a classic romance scam playbook. Her name’s Kanon Hiroshige, and she’s from Yokohama working as a company employee now.
They connected on a dating app last year when she was still in university. The guy, who’d lost his wife a few years back, was just looking for some dinner company. She replied, things got flirty fast, and she started dropping those “I love you” texts that had him hooked.
Then came the money requests. In August, she hit him up for ¥40,000 claiming it was for grad school entrance exam fees. Later she asked for another ¥380,000+ for “enrollment fees” and stuff. He sent it all, poor guy. Cops say it was all made up — she had zero plans to actually take those exams.
But the wildest part? She supposedly told him she was hospitalized with cancer starting last September. Then in April, someone pretending to be her mom messaged: “My daughter Kanon passed away at 22.” Total heart-wrenching fake-out.
Hiroshige’s admitted to the fraud charges. Police think she might’ve squeezed even more cash out of him — possibly up to ¥2 million — with hospital expense excuses and whatever else.
It’s a tough reminder that even in Japan, these dating app scams can hit anyone. The guy was vulnerable after losing his wife, and she played right into that. Stay sharp out there if you’re swiping!
What do you think — too naive or just heartbreaking? Drop your thoughts below.
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