A ninety-three-year-old woman from western Japan turned the tables on a suspected fraudster by pretending to play along with his scheme while secretly coordinating with police to catch him red-handed.

The woman, who lives in the Shiga region, received calls on Wednesday and Thursday last week from a man claiming to be a police officer. The caller told her that someone had made an unauthorised withdrawal from her bank account.

She was instructed to hand over her ATM card to a man, who would pose as a police officer and visit her home so authorities could verify her account.

But the woman suspected a scam. She consulted her son and contacted police while waiting for the scammer to arrive at her house.

“The person’s family reached out to the police on Wednesday evening, and we were able to have officers at her house” before the scammer arrived on Thursday, a local police official told AFP on customary condition of anonymity.

When a man (47) showed up at her door on Thursday, waiting officers arrested him immediately.

“The person (the woman) is someone in good health and highly articulate,” the official said. He urged other elderly residents to consult family members when they suspect fraud.

Senior citizens in Japan face constant targeting from fraudsters. The country has the world’s second-oldest population after Monaco, making it a prime hunting ground for scammers. Last year alone, fraudsters stole around 325.7 billion yen (R35 billion) from victims across the country.

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