Japanese woman gets scammed by a man pretending to be an astronaut who was running out of oxygen in space
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IN SPACE - OCTOBER 7: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) In this handout photo provided by the European Space Agency (ESA), German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst takes a 'selfie' during his spacewalk, whilst aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on October 7, 2014 in Space. Gerst returned to earth on November 10, 2014 after spending six months on the International Space Station completing an extensive scientific programme, known as the 'Blue Dot' mission (after astronomer Carl Sagan's description of Earth, as seen on a photograph taken by the Voyager probe from six billion kilometres away). (Photo by Alexander Gerst / ESA via Getty Images)An 80-year-old woman from Japan was scammed by a man posing as an astronaut in a romance fraud. According to an article recently published by Hokkaido Broadcasting, Sapporo police officers reported that the elderly woman met the man on social media earlier this year, in July.
The scammer introduced himself as an astronaut to her, and then maintained a close touch with her through online chatting. After a couple of weeks of frequent interaction, he told her that he was under attack in space and was running out of oxygen.
In an attempt to help someone she thought was a genuinely helpless astronaut stuck in orbit, the woman was convinced to send him money to purchase oxygen supplies via electronic payments.
The 80-year-old sent the scammer money through five different convenience stores across Sapporo between mid-July and August. In total, she had lost close to 1 million yen, which is around $6,700 - to the scammer.
Per the media outlet, the victim admitted to having developed romantic feelings for the fake astronaut during their interactions, which led her to accept his requests for money.
It was only after she realized that she had been scammed that the woman told her family about it, who later reported it to the police. Officers in the city's Teine district have labeled it a romance scam, also issuing warnings to other residents when it comes to social media interactions.
Romance scams are on the rise as online dating completes its 30th anniversary
As surprising as it might sound, romance scams like the one the Japanese woman was a victim of are very widespread in this age and time. According to a Barclays article published in April 2025, romance scams have seen a 20% rise in recent years.
Kristy Adams, who is a Fraud and Scams Expert at the company, credits social media platforms and dating apps for this rise. Adams said:
"Social media platforms and dating apps are by far the biggest sources of romance scams, which is no surprise considering how the dating landscape has changed over the decades. Romance scammers have taken advantage of the shift online, using these channels to target potential victims."
For the unversed, online dating has completed 30 years in April this year.
Research conducted by the company also reveals that people who are over 60 are the most common targets of romance scams in the UK, mostly because of their lack of digital knowledge. Per their data, 12% of the country's citizens have been targeted by such scams.
More than being a financial hazard, romance scams are an emotional exploitation of their victims. Data collected by Barclays claims 27% of the victims admitted to being lonely when contacted by their scammer, and 19% claimed to have overlooked all the red flags in the excitement of finding love.
In the wake of these scams, 36% of the victims described feeling angry, 25% felt embarrassed, and 15% felt vulnerable.
Noting how romance scams can be "both financially and emotionally devastating" for the victims who go through them, Adams pushed for tech companies to step up and take active measures to prevent such scams from happening on their platforms.
TOPICS: Astronaut