An elderly Japanese woman who lives in northern Hokkaido was swindled out of thousands of dollars after falling in love online with a self-described astronaut who sought her help in averting a spaceship crisis. After a few exchanges, the scammer told the woman he was in space on a mission, under attack, and needed to buy more oxygen. The woman fell for the ruse and sent him ¥1 million ($6,738.95). Needless to say, the woman never saw her money or the astronaut again. Japan has the world’s second-oldest population in the world, and older people frequently fall prey to various forms of fraud. Unfortunately, this woman wasn’t the first to fall for the “romance scam.” In 2022, a 65-year-old Japanese woman was scammed out of $36,739 by a man claiming to be a Russian astronaut in space who needed money to fly back to earth and marry her. The woman reported the space cowboy to police after she eventually grew suspicious. Law enforcement officials say these cases rarely have a good ending. Even if the perpetrator is caught, the victims rarely recover their funds.
