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A police car in Japan. (Mainichi)

SAITAMA -- Japan has seen a spate of trouble recently surrounding "loans between individuals" made via social networking services and internet bulletin boards, prompting authorities to warn people to beware of the schemes.

According to the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan (NCAC), there have been cases where people have become involved in this type of lending due to the poverty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and the center is calling for caution, warning people "not to borrow cash from strangers."

While some offering the loans claim to be individuals, there are cases in which they are actually illegal moneylenders. On May 12, Saitama Prefectural Police arrested Mitsuhiro Kimura, 66, an unemployed man from Tsuzuki Ward, Yokohama, on suspicion of violating the Money Lending Business Act by lending a total of 390,000 yen (about $3,550) in cash to three women between February and July 2020. They served him a fresh arrest warrant on June 1 on suspicion of violating the interest rate regulation law by imposing ultra-high rates. He has admitted to both allegations.

According to the prefectural police, since February 2020, Kimura had been sending messages offering loans to women who posted such comments as "Please lend me money" on social networking sites and online bulletin boards. Altogether, he is suspected of lending a total of about 6 million yen (about $54,700) to more than 30 women from their teens to their 50s, including high school girls. Kimura allegedly had the victims send him photos via social media of their IDs and of them naked. Police believe that he used the pictures as "collateral."

Police launched an investigation in October 2020, when a woman in her 20s consulted them, saying, "I borrowed money through an online message board, but now I can't pay it back, and there have been persistent demands for payments."

The prefectural police life and economy division warns, "If you don't return the money you borrowed, you may become subject to secondary harm such as threats. Don't borrow from illegal dealers."

A look at Twitter reveals several posts and accounts offering loans, with some stating, "We can help you raise funds" and "Interest-free loans available for women only." But continuously lending money to an unspecified number of people, even between individuals, can be deemed a "money lending business," and failing to register it with the national or prefectural government violates the Money Lending Business Act as unlicensed business activities. It has also been confirmed that some lenders threaten to disclose naked photos on the internet if the money is not paid back, or sexually exploit their clients in return for lending them money.

According to the NCAC, the number of consultations regarding loans between individuals has been on the rise nationwide in recent years. Inquirers are mainly aged from their 20s to 40s, and it is believed that they take out such loans because of the convenience of communicating through social media and online bulletin boards.

The center is urging people not to use interpersonal loans and to consult the Consumer Hotline at 188 (in Japanese) if they get into trouble.

(Japanese original by Ayako Hiramoto, Saitama Bureau)

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Trouble over individual loans offered through social media on the rise in Japan - The Mainichi - The Mainichi