The Japan Cybercrime Control Center (JC3) has been collaborating with the National Police Agency of Japan and Microsoft to address tech support scam targeting Japan, with the cooperation of LAC Co., Ltd. Tech support scam is a form of specialized scam. According to statistics from the National Police Agency, there were 2,169 cases in 2023 and 1,524 cases in 2024, with total losses amounting to 1.00 billion yen in 2024. Tech support scam has also been reported in many countries worldwide and has become a significant global issue.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the law enforcement agency of the Republic of India, has been conducting international joint investigations with the National Police Agency of Japan. On May 28, 2025 (Wednesday), the CBI announced that it had arrested six suspects involved in tech support scam in India and conducted searches at 19 related locations. The two illegal fake call centers searched by the CBI were impersonating Microsoft's customer support and were committing scam targeting Japanese individuals. JC3 is collaborating with LAC Co., Ltd. and Microsoft to share and analyze information related to Japan, and is fully cooperating with the criminal investigations conducted by the National Police Agency and the CBI.
This investigation marks the first instance where criminals involved in tech support scam targeting Japan have been arrested through the collaboration of JC3, LAC Co., Ltd., and Microsoft. However, it is easy to imagine that the criminals could reconstruct their infrastructure and reopen illegal call centers. Therefore, JC3 will continue to collaborate with LAC Co., Ltd. to investigate the actual state of tech support scam and work with law enforcement agencies and Microsoft to reduce and neutralize the threat.
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