Romance scammer posing as a stranded astronaut swindled an 80-year-old woman out of $6,700 — fraudster claimed they needed funds for oxygen supplies

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) image

(Image credit: JAXA)

Romantics believe that love can conquer all, transcending time, space, and reason. But earlier this week, there was a highly unusual romance scam case where ‘space’ entered the picture, quite literally. CBS News reports that an elderly woman in Japan was conned by a man posing as a stranded astronaut. After building the relationship, the scammer cheated the victim out of a million yen (~$6,700) to fund his "need of oxygen."

The woman, an octogenarian who lives in Japan's northern Hokkaido island, first met her ‘astronaut’ suitor online in July, according to reports. Perhaps he was posing as a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) employee. As the relationship developed and their online communications increased, love blossomed and, of course, a bond of trust was formed. Sadly, the self-described astronaut was what local police describe as a 'romance scammer.'

Astronaut beau "under attack and in need of oxygen"

We must assume that feelings of love clouded the victim’s judgment, as one day her ‘astronaut’ beau informed her of his unbelievable situation. He told the lady he was “in space on a spaceship right now” but was “under attack and in need of oxygen,” according to Japanese police officials.

The scammer went on to plead with his unknowing victim for funds to help him pay for necessary oxygen supplies. According to the Japanese police, this was a successful ploy, and the fraudster benefited from an online payment of around 1 million yen (~$6,700) from his victim’s savings.

Ultimately, we have another stern warning from police about online swindlers to digest. This might be a particularly eyebrow-raising example of people being charmed and conned out of their savings. If anything good can come of this, it is that readers will be more suspicious and vigilant regarding the possibility of being preyed upon by online scammers.

The CBS report underlines the fact that not all romance scams are so out of this world. For example, it quotes Federal Trade Commission figures which indicate that 64,000 Americans lost $1 billion to romance scams in 2023. The scammers won't all have been fake astronauts.

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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

7 Comments Comment from the forums

Zaranthos

Some people never learn common sense. The African prince isn't going to give a million dollars people... These scams have been around forever and the same people falling for them also click the links that take you to fake login pages asking for your passwords or personal information.

I work in IT and the number of people who click, seemingly without thinking, is astounding. "But I trusted the person who sent it to me..." from people who see their coworkers accounts hijacked over and over again over the years. Some people never learn to be skeptical or use a little common sense.
Reply
flytrap23

Zaranthos said:
Some people never learn common sense. The African prince isn't going to give a million dollars people... These scams have been around forever and the same people falling for them also click the links that take you to fake login pages asking for your passwords or personal information.

I work in IT and the number of people who click, seemingly without thinking, is astounding. "But I trusted the person who sent it to me..." from people who see their coworkers accounts hijacked over and over again over the years. Some people never learn to be skeptical or use a little common sense.
Are you seriously blaming the victim here?
I swear, hell is too good for some people.
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bit_user

There are a couple interesting dimensions to these stories not touched on, by the article.

One is the rise of scam centers using forced labor. In these cases, migrant workers are often lured by promises attractive jobs and good pay, only to find themselves taken somewhere that they're placed under armed guard and being forced to meet daily quotas of scam revenue or be subjected to beatings and deprivations. You might wonder how such operations can continue to exist, even after being revealed. The answer is that they tend to be located in places with corrupt or weak governments.

AI is another new development. The use of voice cloning and translation technology are improving the reach and capability of scammers. If you haven't already established a "safe word" with your family, be sure to do so. That way, they can always authenticate who's on the line with them.
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Jabberwocky79

It's easy to wonder how someone could be so gullible, but the root of the problem is so much deeper. Yes, it's primarily the fault of greedy people who are scamming victims, and as mentioned, some scammers are victims themselves. But such outlandish feats of deception are also a product of the intense loneliness and lack of love that victims are dealing with. If community and family structure were stronger, there would be fewer gullible victims to prey on.

A more lighthearted take: This almost sounds like the scammer and his buddies were in a competition to see who could succeed using the most incredibly stupid con story imaginable. I think this one even beats out Nigerian prince.
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80251

The victim was 80 years old. It seems like scammers deliberately target the elderly.

I'm surprised the victim's bank (or family) didn't say something when she withdrew such a large amount of cash, which must have been completely out of character for her.
Reply
USAFRet

80251 said:
The victim was 80 years old. It seems like scammers deliberately target the elderly.

I'm surprised the victim's bank (or family) didn't say something when she withdrew such a large amount of cash, which must have been completely out of character for her.
Often, the bank does try to talk them out of it.
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bit_user

Jabberwocky79 said:
I think this one even beats out Nigerian prince.
What's clever about that scam is how it exploits the victim's greed. In this case, it exploited the victim's sense of charity and wanting to help someone she didn't even know. In a sense, that makes it even worse, but really it's all bad.
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