Today of all days!

[ひさしぶり]

This guy rings my doorbell. I answer the intercom, says he's NHK. I always get a crack out of talking to them as they have absolutely no idea how to collect their fees.

Anyway, I open the door and there he is standing there with a shoulderbag around his... well shoulder, a form to be signed in one hand and this huge piece of equipment that could as easily be one to monitor speeding on highways. Very professional, shall we say.

I say 'Yes?' and he answers 'Well...'.

Few minutes of "debating" whether I should pay the fees if I only have my tv hooked to my dvd player...

He leaves, I grin.



Then it hit me! I've seen that guy before somewhere...


*thinking*

*more thinking*


For the love of God I couldn't place him. Until now...



Five-six years ago the same guy was on my doorstep, collecting overdue city taxes. Stupid me paid him three months in a row. Then he stopped coming and I called city hall to inform if I had paid everything (Y20,000 x 3).

They told me they never collect at the door!


What are the chances (I find him)!

[renkachan71]

NHK haven't collected for about three months - it's all bank accounts now. It's probably a pretty effective scam, especially for the elderly who might not have realized that (no insult intended - maybe he thought that as a foreigner you might not have been aware of it either). If he comes round again jump on him and call the police !

[ひさしぶり]

NHK haven't collected for about three months - it's all bank accounts now. It's probably a pretty effective scam, especially for the elderly who might not have realized that (no insult intended - maybe he thought that as a foreigner you might not have been aware of it either). If he comes round again jump on him and call the police !

Actually, he said 'I'll be back'!

WTF, right??? 'Back for what??' I asked him.

His reply: "ma ma..."

You know what I'm gonna do when he has the nerve to come back.

[Mr Fantastico]

[QUOTE=renkachan71;728384]NHK haven't collected for about three months - it's all bank accounts now.[QUOTE]
Dont know how true that is. I definately got paid a visit on a Sunday afternoon by the NHK man within the last three months. It was my first visit in three years of living here. When I questioned him on that, he said "That time has finished". So then I told him that if someone comes down to explain it in english, i'd consider paying. I've never heard such a huffy "Shitsurei shimasu" as he stormed away from my door mumbling about adding it to the bill. Never saw him again.

[PanicInducingGaijin]

NHK haven't collected for about three months - it's all bank accounts now.

They might not collect at the door, but they still come around trying to badger people into signing contracts.

[well_bicyclically]

you should have taken his picture.
Anthropologists would be all over you for the only evidence of an actual Japanese male with balls!

[davai.davai]

you should have taken his picture.
Anthropologists would be all over you for the only evidence of an actual Japanese male with balls!

infrared photography?

About the NHK collector, he always steps back when I offer to call NHK' office to confirm his identity

[Sterling]

If you're in the sociable mood, you ought to contact the police and let them know that the scam artist is operating in your neighborhood. His targets are more likely guilible senior citizens.

See the article below. In your case, your conman appears to have realized that with too much attention paid to ATM transfers, it's better just to cut to the chase and collect cold hard cash...

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0071021a6.html

Tax, pension refund scams proliferating rapidly: NPA

Kyodo News

The public is being preyed upon by new swindlers claiming to be tax or pension officials who dupe their victims by asking them to electronically transfer money to them, according to a National Police Agency report.

The report, a copy of which was obtained by Kyodo News, said it logged 1,664 cases of "refund fraud" between June 2006 and August 2007 that caused total damages of about \1.82 billion.

The scammers are clever, too. Only two individuals linked to one case have been rounded up so far.

The scam typically involves someone posing as a tax or Social Insurance Agency official. The poser calls the victim and claims he or she is in line for a refund.

The caller then instructs the victim to go to a bank or a convenience store and tells the victim by mobile phone how to operate the ATM there. If the money is quickly transferred to the designated bank account, the victim is told, there will be a refund later, police officials said.

But the refund never arrives.

This new form of phone fraud is different from the usual "furikome" (bank transfer) fraud. The new kind mainly targets elderly people, and police suspect that a single group of swindlers ― possibly linked to a crime syndicate ― is behind them.

The agency has categorized "furikome" fraud into three types ― "ore ore" (It's me, it's me) fraud, billing fraud and loan guarantee fraud. The refund fraud matches none of these, the officials said.

The first case of refund fraud was confirmed in June 2006, they said.

During 2006, the number of refund frauds came to 487, with total damages of about \512 million.
The Japan Times: Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007

[renkachan71]

[QUOTE=Mr Fantastico;728448][QUOTE=renkachan71;728384]NHK haven't collected for about three months - it's all bank accounts now.

Dont know how true that is. I definately got paid a visit on a Sunday afternoon by the NHK man within the last three months. It was my first visit in three years of living here. When I questioned him on that, he said "That time has finished". So then I told him that if someone comes down to explain it in english, i'd consider paying. I've never heard such a huffy "Shitsurei shimasu" as he stormed away from my door mumbling about adding it to the bill. Never saw him again.

Ah, well perhaps I should rephrase that then. In THIS AREA, NHK have stopped collecting door to door and now the bills come in the post.They'd been giving us forms for bank direct debit for months before that proclaiming the 'ease and convenience' of switching to that system before door to door collecting disappeared altogether but I don't like to make it easy for people to take money from me if I can help it. I always used to pay the lady who came (p*ssy-cat that I am) but haven't yet paid the postal bill. I've had a few (unanswered) telephone calls about it from the NHK bill-collecting service but no door to door collecting. The best way to check whether it's changed to the same system in your area is to see if you have a postal NHK bill I guess.Also check whether your wife has perhaps arranged for direct debit ? I still think it would be a good scam for certain unscrupulous individuals in the interim period though so be cautious about just handing over money.