Identity theft scam using forged Japanese passport

[rob streeper]

A while back we signed up for a membership on an investment matching website Invstor.com (Investors | The Largest Investor Network at Startups.co | Invstor.com)

After the trial period finished we were contacted through the website by somebody who put us in touch with a person who was represented as an investor. We exchanged emails and a non-confidential pitch deck and out of the blue our correspondent sent us a photo of their passport.

Japan passport scammer.JPG

This immediately set off alarm bells but we played along. The next couple of messages seemed pretty normal and then suddenly the supposed investor agreed to invest, again out of the blue. Next they asked for a photo of our ID's. Seriously doubting the veracity of the proposal I started studying the passport photo and I noted that the range of valid dates seemed to be strange. I looked up the information on Japanese passports and found that they're valid only for 5 or 10 years, not 6 years and three months.

Beware, scammers have infested everything, it's not only Nigerian princes these days.

[wheelinround]

Rob it's a shame we don't recognize scammers here at home as easy.
Thanks for the warning.

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

[rob streeper]

Yep, too bad it wasn't real, the deal on offer was pretty sweet at $5M for a 10% stake.