In the past month and this month, several Japanese teenagers who were deceived into engaging in fraud activities in Myanmar were arrested by Thai authorities. According to two high school students, the Japanese nationals in their compound served as middle-level management, while the boss was Chinese.
Reports from Japanese media Asahi Shimbun and NHK stated that the two high school students are from Aichi Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. The 17-year-old high school student from Miyagi Prefecture was detained by Thai authorities in January of this year.
Thai police mentioned that the student was involved in fraud targeting elderly Japanese people in a Japanese group at a crime spot in eastern Myanmar.
The high school student reportedly met a 29-year-old Japanese man named Fujinuma Tomoyume through an online game, and was then invited to Thailand and taken to the fraud compound in Myanmar. Luckily, his family noticed something was wrong, alerted the authorities, and with the assistance of the Thai government, he was rescued after about 10 days. Currently, Fujinuma Tomoyume has been arrested by Thai authorities, and the high school student is expected to be deported back to Japan.
Another 16-year-old high school student from Aichi Prefecture was lured to the compound by the suspects in December last year. According to the student’s statement to the police, he met someone online in November last year who introduced him to an overseas job opportunity and provided a free plane ticket, which led him to be deceived to Thailand. Upon arrival in Thailand, he was taken to the fraud base in Myanmar and forced to engage in fraudulent activities. If he did not cooperate, he would be subjected to electric shocks, with his feet being shocked once.
Fortunately, in February this year, he managed to send a distress signal to his family using a messaging app, successfully sharing his GPS location and eventually being rescued on February 16 with the assistance of the Thai embassy.
He revealed to Thai authorities that he was in a fraud compound run by Chinese individuals, where about 10 other Japanese people were detained.
According to reports by Japanese TBS, it is believed that the locations where the two Japanese high school students were held are the same.
A Thai civil society group stated that near the eastern border of Myanmar, criminal groups involving Chinese individuals have established a series of fraud bases. Over 6,000 foreigners from Asia and Africa are imprisoned in these crime bases, forced to participate in fraudulent activities.