Veteran Manga Artist Jun Tanaka Reveals $36,700 Investment Scam Loss “My Judgment Was Clouded” Shares Details of Sophisticated Crypto Fraud

Jun Tanaka, a veteran manga artist known for Nacchan and Gakushu Manga: Japanese History, revealed that he fell victim to an investment scam totaling about $36,700.

Jun Tanaka Shares Details of $36,700 Crypto Investment Scam

On April 7, Tanaka updated his X account, disclosing that he had been targeted by a cryptocurrency investment scam. He wrote, “From February to March, I was caught in a crypto investment scam. The total damage is 5,832,000 yen ($36,700). All my savings are gone. I might be finished…” He added that he shared the details in a thread because he “wanted to leave something behind” after reflecting on his life.

According to his posts, the incident began when his wife found an advertisement on X promoting a side job that required only a few inputs from home. He joined what was presented as a task assisting with Ethereum operations, following daily instructions and accumulating rewards.
At one point, a special event was introduced claiming that funds would increase fivefold if participants invested their own money. Tanaka stated, “I prepared 1 million yen and joined.”

From there, he was shown dramatic fluctuations in funds. His initial 1 million yen dropped to zero, while an additional 800,000 yen appeared to grow into 7.2 million yen under the management of a group representative. However, he was then asked to pay a “technical fee” of 1.44 million yen to withdraw the funds.

He explained, “I had no choice, so I canceled my life insurance, borrowed money from my siblings, and managed to pay.” Even after making payments, additional fees were repeatedly demanded. Eventually, he received a message stating, “Large transfers are being flagged as suspicious. We will introduce a specialized international lawyer, so please pay a retainer fee of 720,000 yen.”

Tanaka recalled that this was when he finally realized something was wrong. “When I saw the image of the lawyer they sent, it looked like a suspicious AI generated image of a Black lawyer. That’s when I finally realized.”

“My Judgment Was Clouded” Tanaka Reflects on Missed Warning Signs

Looking back, Tanaka acknowledged that there had been multiple opportunities to notice the scam. “You may wonder why I didn’t realize it sooner. I think the same. There were many points where I could have noticed.”

He continued, “But my judgment was clouded. Even though part of me thought, ‘This might be a scam,’ I wanted to believe otherwise. Combined with their clever tactics, I was completely deceived.”

Although he confronted the perpetrators, they “made vague excuses and disappeared.” He reported the case to the police, and investigators visited his home to accept the report. However, he was told that recovering the money would likely be impossible.

Facing Financial Collapse After the Scam

Tanaka concluded his posts by describing his current situation. “Our household is finished. There’s nothing we can do. We have no savings left. I even consulted the ward office, but nothing could be done. Payments keep coming. I’m… done.”

Source : ORICON NEWS