Many people are worried about reduced income after retirement and hope to increase their assets through investment. However, they may become targets of fraud syndicates. Schematic diagram. (Reuters)
[Financial Channel/Comprehensive Report] Many people are worried about reduced income after retirement and hope to increase their assets through investment, but they may become targets of fraud groups. A 60-year-old man in Japan received a pension of approximately 20 million yen (approximately NT$4 million) after working for 38 years. He originally planned to spend a stable retirement life with his wife, but he unexpectedly discovered that half a year after retirement, his account deposit was 5 million yen (approximately NT$1 million) less. After further investigation, we found out that the 58-year-old wife tried to invest for the first time because she was worried about future living expenses and medical and care expenses. As a result, she mistakenly believed in fake investment advertisements on social media. In the end, not only was she unable to get back her profits, but she also lost a large amount of her retirement savings.
Japanese media "THE GOLD ONLINE" reported that the 60-year-old man Tetsuya Sato (pseudonym) had worked for a precision machinery manufacturer for 38 years. He retired in the spring of 2026 and received a pension of about 20 million yen. Since the mortgage has been paid off long ago, he originally planned to enjoy retirement life with his 58-year-old wife Yumiko (pseudonym), who has been a housewife for many years.
Tetsu also kept his pension and daily living expenses separately in a bank account. Since his wife had been managing the family's finances for many years after his marriage, he did not frequently check the balance of his savings. It was not until about six months after his retirement that he went to the bank to confirm his living expenses and filled in his passbook. He was shocked to find that the balance in his account, which originally had about 20 million yen, was only about 15 million yen (approximately NT$3 million). After further checking the transaction details, he found that there were multiple remittance records ranging from hundreds of thousands to 1 million yen in the account.
After Tetsuya returned home, he questioned his wife, and Yumiko admitted that she used her retirement funds to invest. It turned out that after Yumiko retired, she was worried about her husband's income loss, and was also worried about future medical and long-term care expenses. Therefore, after seeing an advertisement from a well-known investor on her mobile phone, she joined the investment group led by the other person, hoping to increase her income through investment and make the couple's life more secure in their later years.
Yumiko invested 500,000 yen (approximately NT$100,000) in her first remittance. The special app provided by the other party showed that the amount of investment continued to increase, and she kept sending messages telling her that "the profits are quite smooth so far" and "if you invest more now, you can get more profits", which gradually let her guard down.
Afterwards, the fraudster used the excuse of "special investment quota" to induce her to successively add 2 million yen (approximately NT$400,000) and 1 million yen (approximately NT$200,000). When she wanted to withdraw her profits, the other party claimed that she had to pay taxes and a deposit before she could withdraw the money. Yumiko was convinced that she had accumulated a large profit, and in order to get her funds back, she had no choice but to continue sending money.
However, no matter how many times she sent money, she was never able to withdraw the funds, and she could not get a clear answer when she asked the other party. In the end, she even lost contact completely. After all, Yumiko remitted a total of about 5 million yen, which was equivalent to shrinking the couple's retirement savings in just six months.
Yumiko regretted afterwards and said that she originally only planned to invest a small amount of money. At that time, she saw the profit shown on the investment app and gradually believed in the other party. Looking back now, she should have noticed the abnormality earlier.
Tetsuya said that he has also rethought the way he manages his pension. "In the past, the family's finances have been completely handled by my wife. However, the funds after retirement are used to support our lives as a couple, so I think it is necessary for me to have a clear grasp of the asset status of my family."
Statistics from the Japanese Police Agency show that the number of social media investment fraud reports in 2025 reached 9,523, with the total amount of damage reaching 128.8 billion yen (approximately NT$25.785 billion), which has become a serious social problem.
Experts remind that pensions are related to the later life of the couple, and all financial management cannot be completely left to one party. Couples should regularly confirm the status of their savings, investments and assets together. They should be more vigilant about investment advertisements on social media, unfamiliar investment groups, and situations that require payment of taxes or deposits before withdrawing money. Do not hand over your retirement savings accumulated over the years to strangers because you are worried about insufficient income after retirement.
☆The Liberty Times e-newsletter reminds you that the anti-fraud hotline: 165, the crime reporting hotline: 110☆
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