Elderly become targets of scams

[Anchor]

There has been a recently emerging social issue in Japan, where real estate scammers target elderly individuals with cognitive decline, such as dementia.

These scams involve deceiving seniors into signing absurd real estate contracts and stealing their money.

Hwang Jin-woo reports from Tokyo.

[Report]

This is an 86-year-old woman living alone in Tokyo.

She purchased a share of an apartment after being charmed by a real estate agent who had visited her several times.

She paid nearly 40 million won, but the promised monthly rent of 100,000 won was only deposited a few times.

[Victim of real estate scam: "I don't remember at all. I don't really understand the details of this (contract) or what it means."]

There are also elderly individuals selling their homes for half the market price.

They fall for the scam organization’s claims, after complicated explanations, that they won’t have to pay taxes and will be allowed to continue living in their homes.

[Family of scam victim: "At my father's cognitive level, he really wouldn't have been able to understand."]

These real estate scam organizations often approach victims with phrases like, "It's been a while. Do you remember me?"

They exploit the tendency of elderly individuals with cognitive decline, who may not actually remember but feel compelled to agree that they do.

[Narimoto Jin/Professor at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine: "As cognitive function declines, there is a tendency to emphasize 'I have no problems, I'm fine' to those around them."]

With Japan's rapid aging population, it is estimated that by 2040, there will be 5.84 million dementia patients, and their financial assets will exceed 197 trillion yen, which is over 1,900 trillion won.

How to manage these assets, which may be frozen due to memory loss or become targets of scams, is emerging as a new challenge for Japanese society.

This is Hwang Jin-woo from KBS News in Tokyo.