Hello, I don’t know if this is the best sub to post this but I figure it’s a good start. I’ve recently moved to Tokyo to study at Waseda University. I was out last night by myself and went to a few bars in Shinjuku. On my way home, I got grabbed and pulled into an elevator by some guy and brought up to a sketchy bar. I know that alarm bells should have been going off, but I was a bit tipsy and didn’t really know what was going on. I ordered a gin and tonic and I’m 99% sure it was spiked because I truly don’t remember what happened other than they took me to an atm and my bank (In America) wouldn’t let me withdraw however much money they were asking. They got me to use my phone and PayPal them 200,000 yen and then sent me on my way. I woke up this morning to that charge and truly do not know what happened other than bits and pieces. Should I go to the police?
Edit/update: thank you so much to everyone who gave real advice or any sort of support. When something like this happens, you really do feel like an absolute idiot (which, maybe I was being. It’s hard to say when looking back through a roofie hangover). The police basically told me I’m S.O.L. unless I had video or could point to the exact location. Getting drug tested is also very unlikely so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I will still go to the embassy tomorrow and report this, if for no reason other than peace of mind.
To everyone who felt the need to insult me or imply I’m an idiot: I truly truly truly hope you never fall for a scam of any kind. We all do think we’re smarter than that, but it could hit anyone. I’m in a new country, completely alone, trying to learn the ropes. I agree with the commenters who said it’s a ¥200,000 lesson in street smarts. I’ll make the money back but now I know what to watch out for. The dangers in Japan are different from back home, so I really did just need to have something to force me to realize what to watch out for.
48 comments
You report getting drugged and robbed and you are asking if you should got to the police?
Gonna be tough, hopefully the ATM camera have a video of them.
Sounds like you went to Kabukicho. Despite its reputation as a yakuza den, it is pretty safe but I wouldn’t advise you to go there on your own. I don’t know whether I can post links but you can search the internet for ぼったくりバー. Some of the first few results will give you advice on what to do.
If its via PayPal can’t you just cancel the payment. There should be a window to do this
Dayum. Yes. Go to the police. If your bank wouldn’t allow you to take out the money, how’d did they then know that you had PayPal? That doesn’t seem to be a popular payment platform in Japan. Maybe it is.
Sorry that happened to you……but….just about every embassy website has warnings about this exact shenanigans. You’ve learned a lesson you will remember for the rest of your life (we hope). If you do go out drinking in a new city, alone, be extra careful about where you go and how much you consume. Apparently you sent the PayPal payment somewhere traceable. Can’t hurt to go to the police. I would go ASAP and bring a native-speaker.
Go to the police. 200,000 yen is a lot & I hope you get it back.
Welcome to Tokyo. Go to the police, sorry that’s happened to you – even if you don’t get much out of it you should still make a report. Be aware next time, this also happens in Roppongi. You are very welcome to tell these guys to fuck off and push them away if they try to take you anywhere, which if you’re by yourself late at night and clearly tipsy is usually a given. There are kobans everywhere. Don’t even bother trying to be polite if they’re trying to force you. Stay safe.
I know that this might get downvoted but unless you have proof that that drink had something the police wont do crap. Sorry this happened to you though .
Do it now:
– Report the payment to Paypal as Fraud (Your phone was used without your permission to make the payment) [https://www.paypal.com/us/security/report-fraud](https://www.paypal.com/us/security/report-fraud)
– Go to the police and demand to make a report (Many of the police will try to tell you it is your fault, they have a philosophy of you go to bad places, it is not their problem) ignore them and insist you want to make a report, they have to take it if your insist.They may not do anything to help you, but they DO act once reports become numerous about a single place. The report may also help with PayPal Fraud.
Optional:
– Go to a hospital and get a drug test saying you had a spiked drink, if anything comes up, this is evidence for the police.
-If you really have no idea what happened, cancel any cards you might have had on you.
-In Tokyo: Don`t go drinking in Kabuki-Cho or Ueno / Ikebukuro West side / Roppongi Night life area by yourself.
For my own personal curiosity:Was this a Japanese or a foreign tout?
If paypal isnt doing anything, then call your Bank immediately and report a file for fraud transfer. Say it was unauthorized transactions.
It might take a time but there is a chance of 200,000 getting back.
Around kabukicho you usually hear loud speaker warnings about 客引き. If some nigerian guy approaches you for a bar, they’re about to rip you off. Anywhere from 20 man to 60 man. You say you got grabbed but I think you just thought “a bar with women why not” and went willingly. Cops do nothing about those rip off places that’s at the heart of shinjuku. It is what it is I doubt you can reclaim anything.
Stop asking here and go to the police station now
Contact PayPal then block it. Is it linked to credit card? Report fraud to bank and block it
I have a few friends that also had their drink spiked in a similar way. It’s far more common than it should be. I guess nothing will really happen until a few victims end up overdosing and dying. The police are very aware that this is going on and know exactly where it is happening. Unfortunately the police have a rather complicated relationship with organized crime.
Only one of my friends who were victims of this managed to get their money back. But I would certainly try.
Perhaps go to a large police station in the same ward as the bar and go with a Japanese person. Preferably male who has high standing in society like a company president or school principal.
It’s going to be hard to get the police to even lift a finger unfortunately. Even after the US military complained, they didn’t stop these crimes.
Someone physically took you there against your will and you decided to stay for a drink? Lol.
Are you sure you weren’t lured in there with the promise of attractive women? That’s how it usually goes.
Depending on where you are from, you should also report this to your embassy
If you know the place, then tell the police. In the meantime, be more careful about drinking. You got so drunk that you let someone drug you, in public, during a pandemic. Nothing’s going to come of you informing the police though, so might as well work on yourself, the only thing you really can work on.
If he asks, “want to see some tiddies?”
Run.
Look at it as you paid 200,000 yen for a lesson on street smarts.
Consider the money you lost as tuition for the education you received about how Tokyo can fuck you up if you’re not careful.
should you go to the police? Y e s.
You went to a **bottakuri** bar.
They are famous for ripping people off. Especially foreigners.
They basically are bars that have no set menu and have ___dynamic___ prices. So they can charge **anything** for anything. You could end up paying 1 man per beer. It’s insane.
They’re in a legal grey zone. Technically if it’s communicated before, it’s your fault and they’re in the clear. This is why those girl bars don’t take foreigners. They don’t want problems with an angry gaijin complaining about their 4,000 usd tab for talking with a cute girl. They’d rather deal with old perverted Japanese guys who know how outrageous the cost will be.
So what can you do?
You can report them for not making it clear to you and suddenly changing the prices. The burden of proof is on you though unless other people have also complained about the same place in good faith.
**NOW in terms of the drugging / coercion,** you should report no matter what.
Also, circling back to alcohol and drinking. Any decisions you make while drunk (coerced or not) tend to be the fault of the drinker without proof. Which unfortunately tends to include r*pe. When that happens outside of the context of drinking, the police jump to action, but when alcohol gets involved they tend to victim shame by saying “are you sure you didn’t agree at the time and now are changing your mind?”.
I don’t condone these actions just throwing information out there. Men or women, whatever you do, when you drink alcohol make sure to go with friends (especially if you aren’t familiar with the area) and be attentive to your surroundings. People might take advantage of you if you seem like an easy target. Be safe.
This same story happened to me about 13 years ago when I was hanging out alone in Roppongi. They claimed I was ordering top shelf champagne. I don’t think my drink was spiked, I was just extremely drunk. I had a hard $300 daily limit on ATM withdrawals so they tried to run my credit card for the rest. They said it went through, but to my eternal relief the charge never showed up on my statement.
I agree that the police are unlikely to do anything, but you never know. The experience was an invaluable life lesson for me at least.
To all the haters in this thread blaming this person for getting drugged and scammed.
You need to reevaluate your morals.
The man was drugged and had 2,000 dollars stolen from him.
Let’s try and think about what we can do to collectively stop things like this happening in the future.
You can stop this.
You have a voice.
You got into Waseda?
im japanese from japan. I don’t know about law but if you want me to translate to japanese i can do it for you.
but its better to call credit card company to stop your card immediately or ask Paypal customer service. did you put on pin number ? or sign ? if you signed you can just call card company i didn’t sign i was dragged brabra (even you signed it)
if pin number you can just stop card right now. nigerian might copy your card number or do anything to takes your money again. he might make your fake card or etc.and take money from bank related your credit card or you should ask your embassy might you help. japanese police wont do nothing to you.
i was scammed by nigerian electronic store i buy 300 i pad he charged me 1500 when i was in newyork i asked to local police but newyork police didnt nothing to me because i put pin by my self. but nigerian made their own custom pin number machine.i asked credit card company but they cant do nothing so i just asked them to stop card then they didnt charge me
anyway im so sory about this happened. you need deep breath
Well, this is a very expensive lesson. Definitely get this reported, you’ll need the crime number. You can have a translator at the station, they’ll not be much use but better than your phone.
You may be lucky and get to claim it back from the bank if you plead. Chances aren’t high, but you’ve nothing to lose at this point.
Try your best not to go out on the piss in Shinjuku by yourself, or if you do, sit at the Hub and make some foreign friends to join in with. I appreciate the authentic Japanese experience is on your list, but that will come in time. Then again, being ripped off by a bar is a pretty typical experience for some.
Good luck chief.
hello reddit? i was drugged and robbed, should i tell the police?
assuming you were drugged and didnt just drink too much, its fucked up that would happen to you and i hope justice prevails but i have zero faith in japanese police or the justice system here.
on the other hand you make it sound like you were physically forced to drink at a bar you didnt want to be in. did this really happen or did someone in english tell you he knows a bar where you can see tits and girls and you thought you might just check it out and have 1 drink?
You’re lucky this is Japan, back home you would be missing a kidney
Waseda showing its best as usual
Why don’t the cops crack down on this stuff? They do this practically out in the open. Even regular 客引き is supposed to be illegal and this is 客引き to a place that drugs you and steals thousands of dollars. Even regular ぼったくり without drugging is still illegal. Do your damn job police and stop crime.
Anyway OP it’s not your fault and it’s really sad most people are saying that it is and that you learned a 200k lesson. If the police won’t help, report it to paypal and to your bank to mark it as a fraudulent transaction.
This happened to me a few years back. As you say, very embarrassing and a lesson in keeping safe in the big bad city. In my case it was before the likes of pay pay or any smartphone based payment systems, so fortunately they ripped me off for about 300,000 yen via my credit card. Fortunately because although the cop in the local koban couldn’t do anything against the bar directly, he was kind enough to vouch for me over the phone to the card company. They promptly reversed the charges to my great relief. I’m not sure how far you’d get with pay pay in that regard though.
You’re not the idiot, this shit just shouldn’t happen in Japan, period. Police presence often times ends up being just for show in sketchy areas. Like Daimyo in Fukuoka is hilarious about it. Super sketchy area, a lot of “free men’s information” places, “massage parlors”, etc. Big koban with at least 20 cops “working”. It’s all for show. They literally won’t do anything.
Honestly, only advice is check if the place is on google maps before you go.
It seems like you left a lot of information out. Scene straight out of Peep Show lol, it’s not a robbery if you don’t refuse to give them your money. If there were threats of violence it’s definitely a crime
I want to believe you. I really do. But getting drugged to the point you don’t know what’s going on, but you are still lucid enough to be able to type in your pin codes and paypal?
Usually what happens in these sketchy places, is the guy downstairs isn’t the strong arm. He/ she is the street tout that promises ” Happy Hour, 500 yen drinks with hot girls waiting!” etc. When you get in there, your drink is 500 yen, but the girl who sits down to join you, chatting you up drinking pomegranate juice, her drink is on your tab and is about $100 each. So end of the night you go to pay your bill and it’s $2000, then the bouncers threaten you, take you to the atm and make you get the money.
While there are cases of drinks being drugged, this usually results in your money and cards being taken and used to purchase stuff like gift cards and expensive bags etc, anything that can be pawned for money. Then you wake up in an alley or love hotel room somewhere. These are old scams and unlikely to change anytime soon. If what happened went down the way you describe, that is different imo. Not impossible, just different.
Anyway, make a police report, backtrack what steps you can remember so you are able to get a full report. If you know that you were forced to withdraw money from a convenience store, there is likely a camera in there that the police may be able to review. You are not gonna get that money back, so take it as a life lesson. Japan is safer than most places, that doesn’t mean it is completely safe. And if you go drinking, take a friend, and leave your cards at home.
If you had used a credit card you could have contested the charge and paid nothing. Might still be able to do the same through PayPal. How they got you to an ATM and then use your own phone to paypal them a ton of money is beyond wild.
I can’t believe this still happens, and that people are still letting it happen to them. jfc man.
The US Embassy in Tokyo issues warnings abo Roppongi/Shinjuku every other month. Hell, I’m even sure they play announcements warning people about these scams in Kabukicho over the loud speakers. Doubt the embassy is gonna help but you could probably chargeback.
Either way you got suckered and don’t go partying in Roppongi/Shinjuku if you’re FOB.
iPhones record where you’ve been, no? If you have one, I’d look into that. Then you’ll recall where this ‘bar’ was
Ahhhh they used to get me with a handshake. It’s instinctual to reciprocate. Then I just told them I’m looking for my friend, they’re at (insert lie) and can’t find it. Ezpz. Sometimes they’d actually explain the directions lol.
The police said there is nothing they can do? What are they paid for? They should be reviewing cameras around the area. Also, ATMs usually record everything with a camera. Maybe ask the bank for a copy of your interaction with the ATM. It’s possible the person who took you there was also recored being coercive.
Failing this, you should ask if you can take the police to the bar. Another alterrnative would be to try and get in contact with PayPay and see if they can reverse the payment or give the police the details of the person that received the 200,000 yen.
The only reason there are touts is because they work. I sit around for small portions of my life trying to understand what people are thinking when they follow a tout somewhere.
OP do you remember your thought process? I genuinely cannot understand.
If everyone stopped listening to touts they would go away and stop bothering us.
You are an idiot! HOWEVER! This has happened to me as well, lol. So 2 idiots in a boat.
After 7 years of living here. I was an idiot and didn’t pay attention.
Got spiked in golden gai (during heavy Covid restrictions, so no people) when I was alone out just having a drink. A girl stroke up a conversation. She and her friend then told me to come with them. After that, I don’t remember anything until I walk out of a bar around 10 in the morning….
The anxiety was heavy and I had 400,000 yen less in my account
Tokyo/Japan is safe, it really is, but in the future always be observant. I was reckless just because I thought I’d been here for so long “so I know the ropes”, lol.
You learned the hard way. It sucks and I feel for you. However, don’t let this ruin your experience here.
I didn’t go to the police, cause honestly, without memory, what could I say? If you feel okay with loosing 200k then just move on. Because I honestly think you will just be wasting your time unless you remember things clearly
You learned something at least… expensive lesson but it is what it is.
Hope you okay otherwise!
It’s not quite a Japanlife post without half the people flaming OP for being an idiot and the other half coddling OP with “oh you pooor babbbyyy.” Hahaha.
One of the highest upvoted posts in this thread is someone telling foreigners to speak up and that you have a voice. Bruh. These scams will always exist and anyone dumb enough to follow Nigerians into a bar deserve to get scammed. It’s just common sense. Do Americans not get taught about stranger danger as kids?
Also, be careful that surprisingly many people out there will just steal you wallet/phone/watch as soo as they have the chance.
In Europe I never got stolen anything despite the reputation, here I got stolen a few times, a friend also got his wallet stolen.
I believe they are stolen by stupid young yankees and not only criminals, the one who stole my wallet used my card for starbuck and mcdonald purchases lol..
OP – Did you use Paypal? I am a fraud and security software engineer for a large Internet company and I may be able to give you some ideas on how to get your money back. Not the ATM part but any other money that was transferred electronically. PM me if you feel up to it. I’m in the Shikoku islands area of Japan.
so i’m a friendly looking 19yr old male, kinda skinny and have a very American appearance(big afro) and sometimes go to Shinjiku, yokohama and other random places by myself. I will usually go out and try to find some random people(english speakers since i don’t know any japanese) to go and have fun with; clubbing mostly. How likely is this to happen to someone like me? because i also carry my car keys and quite a bit of yen with me most of the time. should i carry a knife with me? and if so what legal actions would be taken if caught with the knife?