Spotting risky financial offers

Red flags

• Guaranteed returns. Anything that promises a fixed profit from a risky asset is either mistaken or false.
• Pressure to act today. "Only three places left" and "price rises tonight" exist to stop you from checking.
• A stranger and a chat group. A friendly person on social media or a messaging app who introduces you to an investment group, a trading "teacher" or a private tip line.
• Payment to a personal account or wallet. A business that is registered asks for payment into a business account in its own name.
• Fees to withdraw. If your balance appears to grow but you must pay a "tax" or "release fee" to take it out, the balance is not real.
• Endorsements you cannot verify. A famous face in an advertisement does not mean the person knows about it.
• Loans that need an upfront fee. A lender that asks for a payment before any money is advanced is a warning sign.

A four-step check before you send anything

1. Name the activity. Is the firm lending, selling securities, advising on investments, or exchanging crypto assets? Use the map of who regulates what to see which register applies.
2. Look it up. Search the firm's exact name in the FSA's lists of registered operators and in the FSA's published warnings about unregistered operators. Compare the registered address and registration number with what the firm shows you.
3. Find your own contact route. Take the phone number or address from the official register or the firm's long-standing website, not from the message that reached you.
4. Ask for everything in writing. A genuine provider can send fees, risks and terms as a document you can read slowly and show to a family member.

A registration number is a strong first filter, not a guarantee. Scammers sometimes quote a real registered firm's name or number. If anything in the contact looks different from the register, stop.

A note on crypto assets

Crypto assets are volatile, and exchanges in Japan are regulated under the Payment Services Act. An offer to "invest in crypto" through a person you met online, with a transfer to a wallet address they gave you, is a common scam pattern. A genuine, registered exchange does not need you to send assets to a private wallet to open an account.

If you think you have been targeted

• Stop sending money, and do not pay any further "fees".
• Tell your bank at once if you made a transfer; some banks can try to hold or return a recent payment.
• Keep messages, screenshots, bank slips and wallet addresses.
• Get help: the Consumer Hotline (188) connects you to a local consumer centre, the National Consumer Affairs Center and the FSA publish consultation desks, and the police have a consultation line (#9110). Check the official pages on the sources list for current details.