Romantics believe that love can conquer all, transcending time, space, and reason. But earlier this week, there was a highly unusual romance scam case where ‘space’ entered the picture, quite literally. CBS News reports that an elderly woman in Japan was conned by a man posing as a stranded astronaut. After building the relationship, the scammer cheated the victim out of a million yen (~$6,700) to fund his "need of oxygen."
The woman, an octogenarian who lives in Japan's northern Hokkaido island, first met her ‘astronaut’ suitor online in July, according to reports. Perhaps he was posing as a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) employee. As the relationship developed and their online communications increased, love blossomed and, of course, a bond of trust was formed. Sadly, the self-described astronaut was what local police describe as a 'romance scammer.'
