Photo/Illutration Non-Japanese workers at the Seven-Eleven convenience store chain participate in an anti-crime class organized by Aichi prefectural police in Nagoya in February. (Yuri Murakami)

NAGOYA--A 21-year-old Nepalese worker at a Seven-Eleven convenience store here promises to be more vigilant the next time she spots suspected fraudulent activity involving an elderly customer.

“I have seen an old man operating an ATM while talking with someone over a cellphone, but I did nothing because I did not imagine it involved fraud,” she said. “If a similar thing happens the next time, I will for sure speak to such a person.”

Aichi prefectural police are boosting efforts to prevent fraud cases by reaching out to a growing number of foreign workers at Japan’s ubiquitous convenience stores. Scammers often try to deceive elderly citizens into sending cash through ATMs at those stores.

“We want to prevent as many fraud cases as possible by having non-Japanese clerks learn about countermeasures and actively talk to potential victims,” said Yasuhiro Enpuku, an official at the prefectural police’s Community Safety Administration Division.

The Nepalese woman was among the 30 or so Seven-Eleven workers who participated in an anti-crime class recruiting foreign employees organized by police in Nagoya’s Naka Ward in February. 

It was the first such program for Seven-Eleven in Japan, according to the company. 

A police officer showed on the screen that many victims transfer money to con artists at convenience store ATMs and advised that clerks should “speak to elderly customers if they are talking by mobile phone near ATMs.”

The participants also practiced helping aged individuals who are about to send a large amount of e-money to fraudsters.

According to Aichi prefectural police, 96 false billing cases involving certain websites or other services were reported last year in the prefecture. In 68 of those cases, victims were told to transfer money at 177 convenience stores there.

Meanwhile, 94 potential fraud cases mainly connected to phony bills and bank transfers were successfully prevented after convenience store workers took measures to help customers.

Major convenience store chains are hiring more foreign workers.

Staff members from overseas accounted for 8.9 percent of all workers at Seven-Eleven outlets in Japan as of the end of February 2019, while the ratios were 7 percent in December 2019 for the Lawson chain and 8 percent as of the end of February 2020 for FamilyMart.

In March, the Chikusa Police Station in Nagoya’s Chikusa Ward produced a manual jointly with FamilyMart Co. to urge non-Japanese workers to stop customers from being victimized by scam artists.

The material calls on clerks to pay special attention to “those purchasing e-money totaling 50,000 yen ($459) or more” and “those wanting to send cash through parcel delivery services” in simple hiragana and katakana characters.

The manual has been distributed to all FamilyMart stores in the ward where non-Japanese clerks work.

“We would like the increasing number of staff members from outside Japan to play a part in preventing crimes in local communities,” said Ko Yokouchi, 43, head of the chain’s Nagoya Chikusa sales office.