Grifters

Most Japanese are honest. 
Japan is a very safe and honest country.
But, there is crime here. After all there are lots id policeman and they are very busy!

Many who have suffered the destruction of their homes have lost everything. That means their bankbooks and in many cases most if not all of their identity papers. How do you prove who you are, if you have no papers, the city office which used to have you on file, no longer exists....??? You have money in the bank - how do you get it?

Right after the earthquake, many banks made announcements that if you had some sort of ID, they would let you withdraw up to 100,000 yen - one time, about 800 to a 1,000 dollars depending on the exchange rate.

Already, the cheaters and grifters have taken advantage of this and robbed the banks of thousands of dollars (yen actually :-)  One man, reportedly took the same story and ID to 5 different banks.... Reportedly, something like 250,000 dollars has been grifted in total so far.

What a cheap trick to play in this time of suffering and pain. It is unbelievable!

Read this Japan Times article which a little bit about bank robbers and other bad people.