On November 12, Japanese authorities arrested a Chinese man accused of defrauding a 71-year-old Chinese woman of 809 million yen (5.3 million USD).

This is the largest social media investment scam ever in Japan.

According to Japanese police, the arrested man is named Wen Zhuolin, 34 years old, claiming to be the company director, residing in Sumida ward, Tokyo capital.

Meanwhile, the victim, an executive of a company in Ibaraki Prefecture, was lured into the investment scheme through an account impersonating Japanese economic analyst Takuro Morinaga on the messaging app Line.

The victim said she first saw the investment ad on the social media platform Instagram in October 2023. A month later, she transferred 10 million yen ($64,639) after a person claiming to be Mr. Morinaga’s assistant convinced her to invest.

Through an app, the scammers showed the victim that the investment was profitable. As a result, the woman went on to transfer or hand over a total of 799 million yen to unknown people through 47 transactions.

Wen is suspected of colluding with other unidentified fraudsters from October 24, 2023, to April 12, 2024, to deceive the victim with false investment promises, as well as directing others to collect a total of 83 million yen from the victim at a train station in southern Ibaraki Prefecture on December 11 and December 18, 2023.