Seven Japanese Agencies Tell Platforms to Verify Advertisers After ¥127.5 Billion in Scam LossesA · FULL TRANSLATION
- Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) has announced stronger measures to combat impersonation fraud on social media.
- The focus is on monitoring and penalizing fake accounts and deceptive advertisements.
- The FSA will collaborate with major social platforms to enhance account review and ad filtering.
- The goal is to reduce fraudulent ads by 30% by the end of 2024.
- Consumers can report suspicious accounts and ads through a dedicated website.
On August 7 Japan's Financial Services Agency, together with the National Police Agency, the Consumer Affairs Agency, the Digital Agency and the ministries of internal affairs, justice and economy, issued a written request to major social media operators to strengthen measures against impersonation scam advertising. The core demand is identity verification of advertisers.
The scale explains the seven-agency lineup. National Police Agency figures put 2025 losses from SNS-based investment fraud at ¥127.47 billion, 1.4 times the previous year; romance fraud added ¥55.22 billion, up 37.8%. Including conventional scams, recognised cases reached 42,900 and total losses ¥324.11 billion — both records. One entrepreneur, Yusaku Maezawa, was impersonated in 188 separate cases tied to roughly ¥2 billion in losses.
The structural point matters more than the totals. Impersonation ads are cheap to produce, and the platform's revenue comes from the ad spend itself. Requiring advertiser verification shifts cost upstream: prove who you are before you can sell financial products. Japan already took a similar route on defamation, with its platform-response law in force since April 2025.
Taiwan legislated this same step in 2024, requiring ad platforms to disclose the real identity of whoever funds a listing. Japan has no penalty attached — only seven agencies applying pressure.
For readers approached about financial products in Japan: check the FSA's register of licensed operators first. Unregistered solicitation is itself illegal.
Publication: Strengthening Measures Against Impersonation Scam Advertising on Social Media
Date: August 7, 2026
The Financial Services Agency, jointly with the National Police Agency, the Consumer Affairs Agency, the Digital Agency, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, has requested that large-scale operators providing social media services strengthen measures against impersonation scam advertising.
(This is the FSA announcement page; the specific measures are contained in an attached PDF. The page carries no damage statistics, deadline or penalty provisions. Refer to the original for details.)