Tokyo police publish videos warning that illegal 'yami baito' jobs ruin lives
In short
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has posted manga-style videos on its website telling the stories of young people recruited into illegal part-time work, known in Japan as “yami baito”, through social media. One video follows a young man who sold his bank account for 50,000 yen and was later arrested, with a compensation claim sent to his family. A police official said that anyone who gets involved faces a ruined life.
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The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has posted manga-style videos on its website depicting young people who responded to social media recruitment for illegal part-time work, known in Japan as “yami baito”, and the consequences that followed. Sankei Shimbun reported that a police official said: “If you get involved, your life falls apart.” [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Sankei reported there are five videos, each about one to two minutes long, and that they are based on real cases. In the “bank account trading” instalment, a young man whose spending on a smartphone game had grown finds a social media post offering “#easy high income”. After repeated exchanges he is told to open a bank account, hands over the account information and receives 50,000 yen. Days later he is arrested because the account was used in a crime; a compensation claim arrives at his family home and assets are seized. The video ends with him slumped and saying: “It's all over.” [ 3 ]
Other videos cover a woman who applied for a job at an overseas resort and became a caller in a special fraud operation, and a driving-service recruitment that was in fact a role moving robbers, according to Sankei. [ 3 ]
Tokyo Shimbun and Nishi-Nippon Shimbun carried the same headline about the police warning on the videos; their article texts were not accessible and their feed summaries were empty. The documents do not state when the videos were posted or how widely they have been viewed. [ 1 , 2 ]
Why it matters
The campaign is the Tokyo police's public attempt to deter recruitment through social media, which the coverage ties to fraud and robbery cases. Because the documents give no figures on the videos' reach or on arrests linked to them, the effect of the campaign is not yet shown.
Key facts
- The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department published manga-style videos on its website about young people recruited into illegal part-time work (“yami baito”) via social media. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The videos are based on real cases, according to the coverage. [ 1 , 3 ]
- There are five videos, each about one to two minutes long, Sankei Shimbun reported. [ 3 ]
- One video shows a young man whose in-game spending led him to respond to a social media post offering “#easy high income”; he was told to open a bank account. [ 3 ]
- He handed over his account details, received 50,000 yen, and was arrested days later after the account was used in a crime; his family received a compensation claim and assets were seized. [ 3 ]
- Other videos cover a woman who took a resort job abroad and became a caller in a special fraud scheme, and a driving-service recruitment that was in fact a role moving robbers, Sankei reported. [ 3 ]
- A police official said that getting involved in such work means your life falls apart. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- When the videos were published and how many people have viewed them. The documents give publication times of the news reports but no date or figures for the videos themselves.
- Which specific real cases the videos are based on, and whether any arrests have followed from the campaign. Only Sankei Shimbun describes the video contents in detail; the other outlets carry the same headline with no accessible text.