A woman was reportedly scammed by a stranger who claimed he was a Russian astronaut that needed money to return to earth. (Read More Here).
The 65-year-old woman from Shiga Prefecture, Japan, met the man on social media in June and started communicating on the Line app, and he claimed he was in love with her. Additionally, he told the woman he wanted to marry her and move to Japan but couldn’t because he was “aboard” the International Space Station and didn’t have the money to return to earth. “I want to start my life in Japan. Saying this 1,000 times won’t be enough, but I’ll keep saying it. I love you,” he wrote in one of the messages.
According to Oddity Central, the woman said she believed the man because he used famous space agency acronyms such as NASA and JAXA and had photos of the ISS on his Instagram page. Authorities said the woman gave the man 4.4 million yen($30,000) on five different occasions, but she contacted police after he continued to ask for more money.