Bank teller thwarts 'ore-ore fraud'

AKITA (Kyodo) A persuasive bank teller helped prevent an elderly Akita Prefecture woman from being bilked out of 700,000 yen, it was learned Wednesday.

According to police in the town of Jumonji, Akita Prefecture, the woman visited the Jumonji branch of Akita Bank at around 1 p.m., asking for a remittance of 700,000 yen.

She said she had received a call from her grandson, who practically never called her, saying he had been in a car accident.

The female teller who handled the request sensed that it might be an "ore-ore fraud," which have been rife of late. In such scams, callers, mainly young men, will say something like "ore ore" ("It's me"), pretending to be a relative who has run into trouble and needs cash.

The teller notified the deputy branch manager, who questioned the woman further and found that she was not certain that the caller was indeed her grandson. He also found out that the caller has asked the woman not to tell anyone else in the family about the request.

The bank notified police and other relatives, who contacted the woman's grandson in Tokyo and found that he had not been involved in any such accident, police said.

While the information was being checked, the woman repeatedly asked the bank to send the money, saying that she did not care whether it was a swindle, police said.