Given a "Police Website" URL and Number? Don't Open It or Type Anything, Hang Up: NPA Case, Fake NPA Site Reported

On October 31, Kyodo News reported that Japan's National Police Agency (NPA) had announced it confirmed a fake website that imitates the NPA's own official homepage. Fake sites imitating the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), Shizuoka and Hyogo prefectural police had already been found. Fake Tokyo MPD and Shizuoka sites were tied to 6 cases in total, including attempts, and about 8.5 million yen in losses, according to the report. The fake sites led victims into video calls and showed fake arrest warrants.

Short answer: if someone sends you the link to a "police site" or a "police investigation page", do not open it (if you did, type nothing), and end the call or video chat. An NPA official said, "The police absolutely never present an arrest warrant on a website" (as reported). The NPA also says police do not question people by video call while showing a police badge, and do not send images of arrest warrants over social media.

How a "police site" is used

• ▸1. Contact: someone posing as a police officer says things like "your account was used in a crime" or "you are under investigation". The NPA says police do not tell people by phone that they are under investigation
• ▸2. A URL and a number: in a video call or similar, you are given the URL of a "police site" and a reception number. The Tokyo MPD says it has confirmed scammers sending URLs over social media to lead people to a "fake MPD homepage" and making them search for an image of an arrest warrant
• ▸3. Fake "proof": in a case the NPA publishes, the URL led to a fake site labeled "Tokyo MPD", and entering the reception number showed a page like an arrest warrant. However real it looks, police do not show arrest warrants on a website
• ▸4. Payment: you are made to send cash or crypto assets to a given account "for the investigation" or "to protect your assets". The Tokyo MPD says police never demand money transfers

A case published by the NPA (page dated October 24, 2025): a man posing as a Hyogo prefectural police officer used "a fraud investigation" and "issuing an arrest warrant" as pretexts to make the victim stay at a hotel and cut off contact with family. He then had the victim transfer a total of 2 million yen in several payments to a designated account, calling it "checking the account identification number". After the payments, in a video call with another "police officer", the victim was given a URL and a reception number. The URL led to a fake site labeled "Tokyo MPD", and entering the reception number showed a page like an arrest warrant. The same page also lists a case (provided by Aichi prefectural police) where an email posing as the NPA Traffic Bureau, claiming unpaid expressway tolls or traffic fines, led to a fake site asking for credit card details.

What police do not do (NPA guidance)

• ▸Call you from an international number starting with "+"
• ▸Contact you over social media, or question you by video call while showing a police badge
• ▸Send images of arrest warrants or other investigation documents over social media, or mail them
• ▸Tell you to search for a police officer's name on the internet

By the numbers: the NPA page "Beware of fake-police scams" (dated November 17, 2025) gives the Reiwa 7 (2025) final figures: 11,014 cases (39.6% of all special fraud) and 100.5 billion yen (70.6% of the total). Victims in their 30s were the largest group, but the average loss per completed case was highest for people in their 70s. Working-age people are targeted too, not only parents and grandparents.

You may not be able to tell by the URL

The Tokyo MPD advises looking closely at the address bar and hovering over a link to see its address, and gives its correct address as https://www.keishicho.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/. Our own view: do not rely on the address check alone. Police do not show arrest warrants on a website or ask for money transfers in the first place. Judging by "would the police do this?" is more reliable than judging "is this site real?"

What to do today

• ✓★Do not open a "police site" link you were sent. If you already did, enter no name, address or numbers, and close it. Send nothing even if a form appears
• ✓★Hang up the call or video chat. You can think afterwards. Do not call back a number the other side gave you. Contact a police station you looked up yourself, or the police consultation line #9110 (Japan)
• ✓Do not trust a police station's number just because it shows on the incoming call. The NPA has confirmed scams that fake the displayed numbers of police stations
• ✓Never hand over or send money, crypto assets, a cash card or a PIN because of a phone call or an on-screen instruction, even "for the investigation"
• ✓Tell your family. Knowing in advance that "police do not show arrest warrants on a website or question people by video call" is often enough to stop someone

Where to get help

If you only suspect a scam, call the police consultation line #9110 (non-emergency). If you are being victimised right now or are in danger, call 110. If you have already sent money, contact your bank and the police immediately. For contract or payment troubles, the Consumer Hotline 188 connects you to your nearest consumer center. These numbers are domestic windows in Japan.

Three lines to send to your family

• ▸Japan's NPA announced it confirmed a fake site of its own (Kyodo News report). Fake Tokyo MPD and Shizuoka police sites were tied to 6 cases and about 8.5 million yen
• ▸★Police do not show arrest warrants on a website, or question people by video call. If a "police site" link arrives: do not open it, type nothing, hang up
• ▸If unsure, call #9110 or a police station. If you sent money, contact your bank and the police at once. For money consultations, call 188

What we could not confirm

• ▸The NPA's original announcement. We confirmed the content through the October 31 Kyodo News article (carried by Tokyo Shimbun, Daily Sports and others). We could not open the NPA's announcement page. Numbers are given as reported
• ▸The addresses and appearance of the fake sites. The reports do not give them, and we do not publish fake-site URLs
• ▸Whether the fake NPA site caused any loss. The report says losses were confirmed on the fake Tokyo MPD and Shizuoka sites, and does not mention losses on the fake NPA site

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