Japan Faces Surge in CEO Impersonation Scams: How to Stay Safe

Scams in which fraudsters impersonate company presidents and other senior executives and issue fake business instructions by email are rapidly increasing, according to police, with some firms suffering losses exceeding ¥100 million ($635,000) as a result. The scheme targets employees such as accounting staff, and small and midsize companies are particularly vulnerable because of the relative closeness between executives and workers. The National Police Agency has urged caution through the Central Federation of Societies of Commerce and Industry and other groups. According to the NPA, these emails typically arrive under the name of a company president or chairman, and are often sent to accounting staff. The messages typically claim to concern a “new business partner” or “project-related matters,” and instruct recipients to set up a chat group for further communication.