"A Deposit Is Required" Means Fraud: Matchmaking Scams Up 73.2% in Cases and 83.2% in Losses (Japan NPA, End of August 2026)

Hello. This is Shemihaza, your sentinel.
Today is about a scam that starts with "We will introduce you to a lovely woman (or man)."
I will quote the National Police Agency (NPA) of Japan directly: "A deposit is required" means fraud.

Today's example is statistics published last Friday.
On 2 October 2026 the NPA published "Special fraud: cases recognised and arrests, end of August 2026 (provisional)".
★In that table, matchmaking fraud (kosai assen sagi) had 452 recognised cases (+191, +73.2% on the same period last year) and losses of ¥1.47 billion (+¥0.67 billion, +83.2%). Both are about 1.7 to 1.8 times last year's level.

The numbers (end of August 2026, provisional)

• ▸Recognised cases: 452 (+191, +73.2%)
• ▸Losses: ¥1.47 billion (+¥0.67 billion, +83.2%)
• ▸Arrest cases: 19 (+18); people arrested: 12 (+9)
• ▸All special fraud: 29,687 cases (+14.4%) and ¥236.07 billion (+33.2%). Matchmaking fraud is about 1.5% of cases and about 0.6% of losses (this site's calculation)
• ▸Financial-product fraud in the same table also jumped: 286 cases (+164.8%) and ¥2.84 billion (+117.9%)

★Two calculations of this site's own.
Average loss per case: this year ¥1.47 billion ÷ 452 = about ¥3.25 million; same period last year ¥0.80 billion ÷ 261 = about ¥3.07 million. Last year's figures are back-calculated from the published "+191" and "+¥0.67 billion". The loss figures are published in units of ¥0.01 billion, so these averages are approximate.
★And the statistics do not say why it increased. The NPA shows the change by type in a table but does not say through which channel (magazines, email, SMS, social media) the cases grew, or why. "Other special fraud" in the same table also moved sharply (+322.7%), and I could not tell from the table whether a change in classification is involved.

How the NPA describes the scam

The NPA describes matchmaking fraud as a method that takes money from people who respond to an offer such as "we will introduce you to a woman" printed in a magazine or sent by email, under the name of a membership registration fee or a deposit.
It uses the wish to meet someone as the way in, and makes you pay first.

Reading the NPA's example calls as they are

The NPA's SOS47 site carries example calls for matchmaking fraud. They are not invented; a public agency publishes them as "calls to watch out for". Here they are.

• ▸Scammer: "If you register as a member, we will introduce you to a lovely woman (or man). Please transfer a registration fee of ¥X0,000."
  → The target thinks: "I want to meet someone, so I will pay the membership fee"
• ▸★Scammer: "The woman you met the other day likes you. To hold her for you, could you pay a deposit?"
  → The target thinks: "I am happy. I want to see her again, so I should pay"
• ▸Another pattern: taking a registration fee by saying "if you meet the person we introduce, they will give you money"

★The second line is the turning point.
After the registration fee, a "deposit" appears under a different name. The NPA's closing line is short: "A deposit is required" means fraud.
The money you paid is not a cost of meeting someone; it is the entrance that invites the next payment.

Similar but different: how it differs from social-media romance scams

The NPA statistics have a separate row for social-media romance fraud (3,506 cases and ¥32.58 billion at the end of August 2026). The NPA describes that one as exchanging messages several times without meeting, so that the victim develops romantic feelings or closeness, and then taking money.
Matchmaking fraud, as the NPA describes it, takes a membership fee or deposit from people who respond to an offer of an introduction. Romance fraud has far more cases, but matchmaking fraud grew faster at +73.2%, against +0.4% for romance fraud.

What you can do today (mainly points the NPA lists)

• ✓★Remember: "a deposit is required" means fraud. This is the NPA's own wording. Once a deposit follows a registration fee, you can cut contact without weighing the details
• ✓Do not contact the number written in an SMS, postcard or email. The NPA tells people to treat such calls, mail and email as fraud first
• ✓To check, call back your nearest police station. Use a station number you looked up yourself, not one the other side gave you
• ✓Set your mobile phone to reject unknown numbers, and block incoming international calls on a landline. The NPA lists both among its points for preventing harm
• ✓Never tell anyone your PIN. This is among the NPA's cautions
• ✓If you have already paid a registration fee, keep the records (transfer statement, emails or SMS, a photo of the offer), do not pay the next deposit, and ask for advice. This is a general addition from this site, not an NPA procedure

Three lines to share with family

• ▸An offer like "We will introduce you to a lovely woman (or man); please transfer a registration fee" is matchmaking fraud. The NPA writes: "a deposit is required" means fraud
• ▸In the NPA's provisional figures for the end of August 2026, matchmaking fraud was 452 cases (+73.2%) and ¥1.47 billion (+83.2%). In its example call, a deposit follows the registration fee
• ▸Do not contact the number written in the offer; check by calling a police station you looked up yourself. If unsure, use the police consultation line #9110 (Japan); if you have already paid, the Consumer Hotline 188 (Japan)

Where to get help (Japan)

#9110 and 188 are Japanese domestic numbers.
If you are not sure whether it is a crime, call the police consultation line, #9110. The NPA page used as the source also lists this number.
If you have paid money or been made to sign a contract, call the Consumer Hotline, 188, which connects to the consumer centre for where you live.
If you have information that leads to the scammers or their base, there is an anonymous tip line, 0120-924-839. The NPA lists it on the same page.

Sources