World Scene: Japan

Guarding ATMs against fraud

Tens of thousands of Japanese police were standing guard over bank cash machines yesterday, in a bid to protect pensioners from the growing threat of fraud.

Conmen posing as anything from family members in trouble to tax officials promising a refund have tricked mostly elderly people into transferring more than $247 million to their accounts via ATMs in 2007. This year is set to be even worse, police figures show.