(Excerpt)
(Tuesday, December ２, 2025, ９:14 am to ９:36 am)
[Opening remarks:]
- Minister)
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I would like to introduce a new, public-private, cross-industry public relations campaign for countermeasures against financial crime.
This year has seen the worst-ever losses from specialized scams, and losses from social media-based investment and romance scams continue to increase, creating an extremely serious situation. Illegally traded deposit accounts are being misused as destinations for money transferred by victims of these scams and other crimes. To stop this misuse, the Japanese Bankers Association has taken the lead in creating this video content to widely inform the public that account trading is illegal, and that financial institutions will strictly refuse to open new accounts for individuals involved in such transactions. Using this video content, the FSA, the National Police Agency, and financial institution associations will work together to carry out a public-private and cross-industry public relations campaign. Specifically, in addition to disseminating information through financial institutions’ branches and websites, we will also widely promote it via social media and other communication channels using short video formats so that the message also reaches younger generations. Preventing account trading helps prevent losses from crimes such as scams and thereby protects public safety and security. Therefore, I would like to ask for the cooperation of the media representatives present here.
Also, I would like to inform you about scam calls impersonating banks. Since mid-November, there has been a sharp increase in voice phishing scams. These involve calls impersonating certain regional banks or automated calls to companies, directing them to fake websites to steal their internet banking information. Incidents of losses have already been confirmed at multiple companies. Banks do not normally ask for information like IDs or passwords over the phone or by email. They simply do not do this. Therefore, please do not be deceived. To prevent loss, do not respond to suspicious calls in the first place. If you receive a call claiming to be from a bank, hang up and call the bank’s main number to confirm. If you have already provided any information, contact the bank and the police immediately. We ask that these points be thoroughly observed.
[Questions and answers:]
- Q.
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Regarding the voice phishing scams impersonating regional banks that you mentioned at the beginning, incidents of losses have been confirmed at multiple companies. If you have any specific number of cases, amounts, or concrete examples that could be shared, could you please provide them as they would help raise public awareness?
- A.
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Given the current situation with various ongoing matters, this data is not being disclosed at the moment, so I would ask for your understanding.
- Q.
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Regarding the voice phishing scams impersonating regional banks mentioned earlier, for example, the Bank of Fukuoka has already disclosed the amount of loss. Could you reconsider disclosing further information, such as the overall scale of losses and the total number of cases, if available?
- A.
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It is true that some institutions have voluntarily disclosed information, as indicated in the materials I have here dated November 28. However, we do not yet have a complete picture of the overall situation, so disclosing anything now could be inaccurate. As there are cases where institutions have halted transactions, the FSA will be examining this going forward. I will take that request into consideration.
