Looters, scam artists and thieves have descended on Ishikawa Prefecture, preying on victims of the New Year’s Day earthquake who are struggling for survival.

Criminal activity in the disaster areas has become such a concern that about 40 police officers are now providing counseling and crime prevention guidance at evacuation centers in the prefecture, Yoshifumi Matsumura, chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, said at a news conference on Jan. 11.

The National Consumer Affairs Center on Jan. 15 will open a free consumer hotline (0120-797-188 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) for victims of the Noto Peninsula quake, Hanako Jimi, the consumer affairs minister, said Jan. 12.

Some residents in the prefecture have formed neighborhood watch patrols. Police are also strengthening security in disaster-stricken areas.

BLUE TARP SCAM

Kimiko Hanazono, 72, was a victim of price gouging.

Just after noon on Jan. 3, she returned from an evacuation center to her damaged home in Nanao, a city in the center of the peninsula, where the Jan. 1 quake registered a seismic intensity of upper 6 on the Japanese scale of 7.

A young man arrived at her house, saying he came from Kobe to install blue tarps on quake-damaged roofs to prevent leaks.

“I have other appointments, but I can do yours first,” he said.

With the rain falling, Hanazono feared the water would seep into her home and cause more damage.

She accepted the stranger’s offer.

After 20 to 30 minutes of work, he told her, “It’s 120,000 yen ($830).”

Hanazono thought the price was expensive. But she believed the man had used thicker, high-quality tarps for the repair work. She also noted that he had traveled to the disaster zone from Kobe.

She paid the fee from the 200,000 yen her son had transferred to her at the end of the year.

Two days later, she saw that the sheets had come loose from the roof and were fluttering in the wind. “They shouldn’t have come off that easily.”

She called the worker’s number, but there was no response. Hanazono consulted police and the city’s consumer affairs center.

Although she received a refund from the company where the man supposedly worked, she does not know if he was punished for charging so much money for such shoddy work.

“You should not be allowed to enjoy the fruits of making money so easily,” she said. “I want (the man) to regret this.”

Ishikawa prefectural police said they had received 40 complaints about disaster-related price gouging as of the evening of Jan. 10.

In many of the cases, the victims were abruptly visited by strangers urging them to install blue tarps on their damaged roofs.

MIKAN, CASH, WATCHES PINCHED

Prefectural police also confirmed 17 cases of burglaries and thefts that took advantage of the disaster as of the evening of Jan. 10.

On Jan. 5, a self-proclaimed university student, 21, from Kariya, Aichi Prefecture, was arrested on suspicion of breaking into a private home in Wajima and stealing six high-grade “mikan” oranges worth about 3,000 yen.

The man said he had come to the disaster-stricken city with a team of volunteers. But police learned that he was traveling alone.

In Nanao during the disaster, guests had fled from a “ryokan” inn. When they returned, they found that someone had stolen their bags containing cash that were left behind.

Many damaged buildings have broken doors that cannot be locked, and many houses have been vacated, creating easy targets for looters.

Eiichi Matsunoki, 75, who lives in the Horyu-machi district of Suzu, has stayed at an evacuation center since the quake.

He returned to his house on Jan. 9 to retrieve his “hanko” seals, but the home has always remained unoccupied at night.

He heard that wrist watches were stolen from his neighbor’s empty house.

“I’m scared that there really are burglars out there,” Matsunoki said. “I stress over the fear that one day my house will be ransacked.”

BIGGER POLICE PRESENCE

At an evacuation center in the Misaki-machi district in Suzu, where about 80 people are staying, five firefighters have started voluntary night patrols.

A 44-year-old member of the group said, “We are doing what we can for the community.”

At the entrance to another evacuation center set up at the Horyu elementary and junior high schools in Suzu, notes written by evacuees report sightings of suspicious people or vehicles.

Shinro Tada, 69, who heads a neighborhood council, said rumors of theft and child abduction have spread at the evacuation center, and many people are concerned.

“We would like to take measures, such as patrols, but there are many elderly people in the shelter, and we have no time to spare because our hands are full trying to maintain daily life,” Tada said.

Prefectural police are patrolling affected areas, distributing warning fliers at evacuation centers, and offering consultations for quake victims.

“If you see a suspicious person or a suspicious sales technique, don’t hesitate to report it to the police,” an officer said.

The motor vehicle patrol unit of Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department started making the rounds in Wajima and Suzu on Jan. 11.

One of the officers, Chiei Maruse, 52, approached disaster victims in Wajima.

“Are you in need of any help?” he asked them.

As a crime deterrent measure, Maruse and his colleagues drive with the vehicle’s red lights flashing. They call out to people and ask if they have seen any suspicious behavior.

Maruse was also involved in relief efforts in areas struck by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

Yasuhiro Arakawa, 69, who continues to live in his quake-damaged home in Wajima, welcomes the increased police presence.

“Just seeing the police car makes me feel safe, and I think it will be a deterrent,” he said.

(This article was compiled from stories written by Koki Furuhata, Shuya Iwamoto, Ryuichiro Fukuoka, Haruka Ono, Daichi Itakura and Mika Omura.)