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Three Arrested in Japan for Scamming Disabled People Via Dating App

4 min readMay 16, 2025

The group, one woman and two men, reportedly robbed around 54 disabled people of over 80 million yen in a year-long scam.

Picture: みやすん / PIXTA(ピクスタ)

By Jay Allen

Dating app scams in Japan are rampant. Some, however, are more blatant and horrible than others. Reports broke this week that Tokyo police had arrested two men and a woman for using a dating app to defraud disabled people of over half a million bucks.

A 1.9 million yen ($13K) bar tab

Picture: shrimpgraphic / PIXTA(ピクスタ)

Police arrested 24-year-old Sugawara Rina and two men who worked with her. Authorities say that Sugawara and the two used a dating app to lure a man to Bar Queen, a girls’ bar in Shibuya, on what Sugawara said was a date. She didn’t tell the man that she was an employee there.

The two played a game of trumps in which the loser had to drink a shot. By the end of the night, the victim found himself saddled with a 1.9 million yen ($13K) bar tab, which he paid for in cash and with a necklace he was wearing.

The group, say police, repeatedly used a dating app specifically made for disabled people and people…

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Unseen Japan
Unseen Japan

Written by Unseen Japan

The Japan you don’t learn about in anime. A selection of popular stories from our website.

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