"Astronaut in distress": Fraudster pockets thousands of euros with weird scam

Space emergency only imagined

It sounds like a script for a bad sci-fi comedy - and yet it's a real case of fraud: in Japan, a man convinced a senior citizen that he was an astronaut on a spaceship, was being "attacked" and urgently needed money for oxygen. The woman from Hokkaidō, around 80 years old, transferred the equivalent of 5,780 euros to the supposed astronaut.

The police made the case public and classified it as a classic romance scam - i.e. a love scam on the internet. To outsiders, the story seems grotesque. But the perpetrators know exactly how to build trust and make money in the end.

How romance scams work

The scam is old, the roles change. Sometimes it's the soldier abroad, sometimes the businessman on a business trip - or the astronaut in space. The tactics are always the same:

• Contact via chat or social networks.
• Building closeness and trust. Often over weeks or months.
• Suddenly an emergency. The victim is asked to help - with money, of course.

In Japan, there have even been several cases involving the "astronaut act". In one particularly absurd scenario, a fraudster told a woman that he needed money for "high landing fees for rockets".

Why do people fall for it?

From the outside, the stories seem easy to see through. But the perpetrators are professionals. Behind many scams are professional gangs that specifically select their victims and adapt the stories to their interests.

Anyone who feels lonely and regularly receives attention from a supposed "dream partner" will eventually lose their distance. Then even a fairy tale about oxygen tanks in space suddenly becomes credible.

Love is blind - and fraudsters exploit this shamelessly

This case is spectacular, but not unique. Whether astronaut, celebrity or supposed investor - romance scams are a global problem. They thrive on people hoping for closeness and love.

Prosecution is often difficult in legal terms, as the perpetrators operate from abroad and cover their tracks. This makes clarification all the more important. Everyone should know: Anyone who asks for money online at an early stage is very likely to be playing the wrong game.

Anyone who gets into a romance online should always be suspicious as soon as the first demand for money comes - and not just if it comes from "outer space".

Our advice: If you or someone you know gets into a situation like this: Do not pay, save screenshots and contact the police immediately.