Photo/Illutration Yasuhiro Tsuyuki, chief of the National Police Agency, holds a news conference on March 16 in Tokyo. (Hidemasa Yoshizawa)

The National Police Agency and the labor ministry will ask employment-related companies to take measures to prevent fraud groups from using job-search websites to recruit people for “yami baito” (dark part-time jobs).

According to the NPA, 38 fraud suspects arrested in seven prefectures from January 2022 until January 2023 were recruited through such job-search sites.

Their roles in their gangs included collecting cash directly from fraud victims and withdrawing cash from ATMs using stolen bank cards, the NPA said.

The arrests were made by police in Tokyo and Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Aichi and Fukuoka prefectures.

According to investigative sources, fraud groups have abused job-search websites operated by companies such as Indeed and En Japan Inc. as well as community-based information sites run by Jimoty Inc. and others.

Typically, fraud groups post offers of part-time jobs under the guise of looking for “delivery service staff” and other ordinary work descriptions.

Many of the ads entice the offers with such descriptions as “driver’s license not needed.”

When applicants called a phone number listed, they are told to communicate via message apps with high anonymity.

Through the apps, they receive information about the actual work involved and where they need to go to sign up.

Such recruiting by fraud organizations started to increase around August last year, the sources said.

The operators of the job-search sites evaluate the companies that want to post available jobs. But fraud organizations often use fake names and addresses, a possible violation of the Employment Security Law, sources said.

Police and the ministry will urge operators of job-search sites to strengthen measures to remove such illegal and harmful job advertisements.

“We are working to review our checking standards and improve our system every day to eliminate recruitment ads related to fraud,” a representative of Indeed Japan said.

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