Photo/Illutration Pages from a how-to guide for women on defrauding men through paid dating (Provided by the Naka Police Station)

NAGOYA--A 25-year-old woman was arrested on Aug. 23 on suspicion of selling young women how-to guides on defrauding “sugar daddies” through paid dating.

Mai Watanabe, a self-proclaimed sex worker with no fixed address, admitted to the allegations, saying she knew that she was helping her customers commit fraud.

Aichi prefectural police believe Watanabe sold one of her guidebooks to a 20-year-old woman from Nagoya in June last year.

The Nagoya woman has been indicted for swindling a total of 10.65 million yen ($72,000) from two men from the prefecture.

In a paid dating practice called “papa katsu,” older men seek companionship from young women in exchange for financial benefits.

Such relationships can lead to prostitution, scams and sexual abuse of minors.

With titles such as “Textbook for sugar babies: the right profile and magical words to make men pay,” these manuals elaborate on schemes to exploit these men financially.

For example, one of the guidebooks advises readers to tell their wealthy targets that they had an unhappy childhood to gain sympathy and support.

Then they falsely claim that they are unable to work due to ill health and need money to pay overdue rent, the manual suggests.

Calling herself “Itadakijoshi Riri-chan (Riri the sugar baby),” Watanabe is alleged to have sold dozens of copies of her self-made guidebooks through social media.

The manuals cost 10,000 to 20,000 yen per copy, with private online lessons available for an additional fee.

Police also suspect Watanabe herself has defrauded men using tricks described in her books.

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