TOKYO - A growing wave of fraudulent restaurant bookings is raising alarm among small eateries across Japan, with multiple cases now reported beyond Tokyo. The scam involves a man falsely claiming to be a school employee and reserving tables under the name "Koga," before canceling at the last minute and demanding that restaurants pay for expensive wine.
The scam targets so-called "hidden" or exclusive restaurants, known for their intimate settings. In Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward, one such establishment was asked on the day of the reservation to purchase four bottles of wine, each priced at 240,000 yen, from an alleged acquaintance of the supposed customer. Chef Yusuke Nomura recalled, "It was chilling. Even if we had paid, there would’ve been no delivery, no guests. It would have been a double loss."
Further investigation revealed another restaurant that reported a total loss of 960,000 yen after ordering the wine, which never arrived. The scheme threatens to damage the trust-based reservation system used by small restaurants, with one Tokyo restaurateur saying, "We now have to approach reservations with suspicion."
The problem appears to be spreading beyond Tokyo. In Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, a man claiming to be “Koga from XX High School” called Trattoria Nonno requesting a dinner booking for 15 people. When the restaurant owner, Hisaya Kanbayashi, informed him that they don’t use LINE for communication, contact was cut off, and the group never showed. The last-minute preparation, including hiring an extra part-time worker, resulted in an estimated 130,000 yen loss. "It’s truly a terrible crime," Kanbayashi said.
The scammer appears to be using multiple aliases and professions. In Toyama City, a man identifying himself as a company employee named “Shirakawa” phoned a restaurant to reserve for an executive party. On the day of the booking, he requested four bottles of high-end wine. But the restaurant, having previously seen news reports on similar scams, became suspicious and contacted the police.
The mobile number used by “Shirakawa” was later traced and found to be linked to other types of phone fraud, including impersonations of police officers. This raised suspicions that the same number was being used by organized scam networks.
Victims described the scammer as a young man with an unnatural use of polite language—appearing to try hard to be respectful but sounding awkward and inexperienced. Chef Nomura described him as “a bit suspicious and nervous,” noting frequent typos in LINE messages that didn’t align with someone claiming to be a teacher.
Many also noted that he insisted on using LINE for all communication. Several restaurants reported poor audio quality during LINE calls, with choppy signals and distant voices.
According to crime journalist Fumiaki Tada, these patterns may suggest that the scammer is part of a fraud group operating overseas through illicit "dark jobs." He added that using LINE may be a tactic to avoid arrest: "When communication is done via LINE, the caller’s identity and location are difficult to trace."
Source: FNN
