Mask scam preying on coronavirus desperation has increased continuously in Japan. Reported by Jomo News on April 18, 2020, a total number of 77 scam cases were recorded within one day in Gunma Prefecture. While some cases involve personal data stealing, some received completely different products from what was showed on the online shops.
「マスク」の表示 買ったら…マスクのイラスト200ページ 通販購入トラブル増 群馬県が注意喚起 https://t.co/tpP6QspL9o
— NewsDigest ニュース・地震・災害速報・新型コロナウイルス動向（ニュースダイジェスト） (@NewsDigestWeb) April 17, 2020
Scammers sell “paper mask” instead of mask
Scammers use trusted sites like Amazon to sell products, sending buyers an illustration or not even that. A 57 years old citizen from Maebashi City bought two boxes of the product, with the title “200 Paper Masks: 200 Happy Super Surgery Mask For Gift. 200 Pages, 200 Masks. 8.26×11.69 (21cm x 29.7cm)”, at a price of 1,539 yen (tax-in) on Amazon Japan website. She believed it would be a box of 200 masks. However, when the delivery arrived a few days later, she found out that it was a 200 pages-booklet of mask illustration, instead of 200 real surgical masks. She was disappointed and requested a refund, yet, only 1039 yen was refunded for each item.
“I thought it would be safe and guaranteed on a big online shopping website,” she said. As everyone was asked to stay home by the government, she ran out of masks because of the scam. Now she is trying to hand-sew some masks for an emergency.
Buyer condemned: do not take advantage of coronavirus
The controversial product is currently out of stock on Amazon Japan, but it is still available on the shelves. Angry buyers wrote feedbacks to condemn the cunning seller, who used confusing naming to trick the buyers.
“……Coronavirus is now a global disaster, and here comes this kind of trap. I ordered in a rush and what I received is pages of printed mask??? ……”
” 200-pages of the printed mask was delivered. Is Amazon in charge of these deals? Don’t treat us like a fool!”
“As same as what is written clearly on its title — 200 pages. What a great product.”
Staying home leads to the booming of online shopping scam
“The price of the mask has gone up to 2.5 times compared with before. It is very difficult to find one now”, described by the representative of Gunma Prefecture Consumer Centre. As online shopping has become more and more essential during the stay-home period, around the globe criminals are looking for creative ways to trick people, to steal money and information. It is recommended to research the seller and buyer’s feedback before you make your decision.
