back to article Japan's naughty nurses scam free meals with mobile games

Japan’s male mobile gaming geeks are being taken for a ride in ever-greater numbers by hungry, cash-poor women who befriend them online before tricking them into paying for an expensive dinner for two. This particularly devious scam is on the rise in the Land of the Rising Sun as single Japanese women struggle to pay the bills …

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  1. Esskay

    This scam...

    sounds a lot like what most westerners would call first dates... Although I guess in this instance the girl isn't interested in anything past the first date. But to a desperate mobile gaming nerd, a date in return for paying for a meal presumably doesn't sound like too much of a raw deal compared to most other scams.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: This scam...

      Is just like the site Plenty Of Fish.

      A finite number of women wanting to meet an infinite number of men.

      The female profile columns usually end with the bait on the fishing line, 'take me out for a nice meal and we will see'.

      Suggest a coffee or a drink and that will not be good enough, these money grabbing mercenaries dress it up as a date but all they want is a freebie feed while they dangle the tantalising bait. Once filled to the brim with good food and good wine paid by their date they are off to the next victim with the parting words 'I had a nice time, I'll call you'.

      1. VinceH

        Re: This scam...

        You sound bitter. Next time, try leaving your comic books at home, and wear normal clothes instead of your Star Trek uniform.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: This scam...

          You try losing the women to someone else just because he has a nice ride while your parents are the types that won't even bother giving you a car, telling you to get your own once you have a job, because, you know, the damn college is accessible by bus...

          Yes, memories hurt. Still bitter over losing the girl...

      2. weebs

        Re: This scam...

        Memories hurt don't they?

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. Shagbag
      Pint

      Provided it ends with consensual, full sexual intercourse, I don't see the problem with it.

      1. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

        Except that that would be prostitution and doesn't happen anyway (unless the lady misunderstood when the proposition was explained to her).

        As Ms. Dynamite explained in another case "I looked it up and that would make me a ho'."

        I'm not sure where you look it up. There's probably a book called something like "Don't be a ho'." Or, ask your mother. (But this won't work if your mother thinks you are already a ho', which she may.)

        1. Shagbag
          Coat

          "...and doesn't happen anyway..."

          Maybe to you.

  2. Turtle

    Miracles.

    "single Japanese women struggle to pay the bills and have enough for three square meals a day, according to News Post Seven (via RocketNews24)."

    It doesn't seem like it was all that long ago that the whole world was extolling and admiring the "Japanese economic miracle".

    Sad that it turned out the "miracle" was actually nothing but sleight-of-hand.

    1. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

      Re: Miracles.

      Nope, I think we found a way to derail the Japanese economic miracle. I'm not sure what it was but it worked pretty well. Probably we supplied them with carefully doctored economics textbooks.

  3. Gray Ham Bronze badge
    Joke

    I fell for a scam like this ...

    ... and ended up paying for a house, 2 cars, and the children's education.

    1. Chimp

      Re: I fell for a scam like this ...

      I don't understand the icon.. .

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I fell for a scam like this ...

      Yes then you end up paying for a wife you don't sleep with, a house you don't live in, children you see every other weekend a car you don't drive..........

      While she then starts the hunt again!

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Devil

      Re: I fell for a scam like this ...

      Prostitutes, Pornos, and Anonymous One Night Stands are cheaper.

      1. ChrisM

        Re: I fell for a scam like this ...

        Sometimes it is cheaper to rent than buy...

  4. Blakey

    Barely a scam, really. It's not like she's withholding anything promised. Admittedly, she obviously won't consider going on any further excursions with the hapless "victim", but if he offers, well . . . It's not like taking someone out to dinner is any sort of a sure thing!

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    HEY!! The nerds get a date with a REAL LIVE WOMAN, that is PRICELESS as far as they are concerned!!!!

    I am taking valuable time away from my clan army to post this!!!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

      Judeging by your

      own emphasis on REAL LIVE WOMAN and PRICELESS, i sort of detected some elation that there was hope for you yet!

      1. Frankee Llonnygog

        Re: Judeging by your

        I'm in agreement that your averaging gaming nerd is not going to feel particularly hard done by. "So, I get a half-hour with a live women for the price of a meal, and the knowledge that she holds me in complete contempt? Sign me up!"

        1. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

          Why spend the money?

          You can be despised by one or more women on the subway for a probably subsidised fare, just for trying to talk to them. Way cheaper.

        2. Ramiro
          Thumb Up

          Re: Judeging by your

          I love how we all think it's important to emphasize *live* woman.

    2. Cameron Colley

      I am in agreement also.

      I have been known to buy a woman a drink or two or a meal for the pleasure of their company for a little while. If nothing else it allows one to brush up on the conversational and flirting skills. When you're socially inept that's practice that's well needed and can actually pay off.

      1. Thorne

        Re: I am in agreement also.

        "I have been known to buy a woman a drink or two or a meal for the pleasure of their company for a little while. If nothing else it allows one to brush up on the conversational and flirting skills. When you're socially inept that's practice that's well needed and can actually pay off."

        Buy enough meals and one is bound to have pity sex with you...

  6. Paul Crawford Silver badge
    Coat

    Made me smile

    Naughty Nurses "where smartphone penetration is over 40 per cent"

    Thanks, mine has the book of double entendres...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

      Re: Made me smile

      Or smartphone removal, depending on the nurse!!!

    2. Elmer Phud
      Happy

      Re: Made me smile

      "Thanks, mine has the book of double entendres.."

      I've got a pair . . .

      1. TeeCee Gold badge
        Coat

        Re: Made me smile

        I had a pair, but I gave her one.

  7. Evil Auditor Silver badge
    Trollface

    Nurse?

    "...even pretending she’s a nurse to quicken the pulse rate of her potential victims"

    That really works? Around here nurses are referred to as germ spreaders, not exactly what you want to date ;-)

    1. Frankee Llonnygog

      Re: Nurse?

      depends on the method of transmission ...

    2. Soruk
      Trollface

      Re: Nurse?

      > "...even pretending she’s a nurse to quicken the pulse rate of her potential victims"

      That'll be the fight-or-flight response. Adrenalin.

  8. Number6

    Escort service

    It sounds a bit like an escort service, a guy with too much money pays a woman to go out with him for the night. Of course, being geeks they might not realise that this is all it is and that there's no chance of it going further.

    I wonder how many such dates it takes for a typical Japanese geek to realise what's going on, and whether, once realised, they keep doing it anyway?

    1. gerryg
      Windows

      Just a thought

      <= my online dating picture

      Not necessarily too much money - one analysis is it's even one better than paying for a broadband connection which turns out to alleviate social isolation. Now, occasionally or more often they get to meet real people too.

      We don't know that "Ms A" is nasty or not good company but it seems to me that on average the world might be a slightly happier place as a result of the transaction. We don't know that anyone is unhappy or failing to have their expectations met.

      As one commentator suggests it's just like a first date and could actually be quite good fun.

      Other commentators appear to be suggesting the underlying modus operandi is "meal => now you must sleep with me" which might say more about them than it does about Ms A or the geeks

    2. Evil Auditor Silver badge
      Joke

      Re: Escort service

      ...going further

      Number6, what serious geek would want such a distraction?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I knew a guy who almost fell for something like this once. But he had heard the lady in question telling her friend about it about half hour before.

    So he organised the date then left her with the bill.

    Think both sides are as bad as the other TBH.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If you can't work

    You can always sell your body

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: You can always sell your body

      Mine's only good for medical research, and they get donated for nothing.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: You can always sell your body

        You'd be amazed what you can get for a pair of second hand kidneys. I'll pop round sometime with the scapel and the icebox and strip your assets if yer keen ;)

  11. Version 1.0 Silver badge
    Happy

    Is this a problem?

    It sounds like a straightforward economic exchange straight of an Introductory Economics text book. Frankly, this sort of thing happens all the time - don't you folks every pay any attention to Politics?

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    pretending she’s a nurse?

    Anyone understand why Ms A pretends to be a nurse? Is there some Japanese subtext? Or why this translates into a headline about naughty nurses?

    1. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

      Re: pretending she’s a nurse?

      Uniform and caring profession fetish aside, nurses are said to be unanxious about the human body. Or, to put it another way, they're dirty. They also work hard and don't have a lot of free time so the romance is liable to be speeded up. With all of that in mind, good luck and don't do anything I wouldn't do.

      1. Steven Roper
        Thumb Up

        Re: pretending she’s a nurse?

        Also, given that nurses are medically trained experts with a comprehensive knowledge of human anatomy, they would naturally know exactly where all the "g-spots" are...

    2. TeeCee Gold badge
      Coat

      Re: pretending she’s a nurse?

      Yes, I'm having trouble understanding why that's otaku bait.

      I'd have thought that pretending to be one of the Knight Sabers, a member of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, or an agent with Section 9 would be more likely to do the trick....

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Happens all the time...

    Heard female friends laughing about how they string a guy along in a night club, getting him to pay for drinks, him thinking he's on a promise only to leave him unsatisfied at the end of the night.

    Also know some who will shag the guy (assuming he's not too ugly), saying "well, he did buy me drinks all night..."

    Remember, size does matter - just it's the size of your bank balance that counts...

    1. Old Handle

      Re: Happens all the time...

      It almost sounds like you're implying both of those are unethical. But surely if one is a scam the other is the expected result.

    2. Steven Roper

      Re: Happens all the time...

      If I heard a female friend laughing about stringing guys along with the intention of milking free drinks or a meal, she wouldn't be a friend of mine for very long.

      The few female friends I do have are friends because they are decent people who respect others, thus they earn my respect.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Happens all the time...

        Is it really any worse than the guy who buys the drinks all night long in the hope she'll get drunk enough to ignore the fact he's an ugly fecker and shag him out of sympathy?

        And we won't mention the time honoured Navy tradition of going on a "Pig Hunt"...

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Happens all the time...

      Yep, standard methodology in Australia at least.

      Several friends (both male and female) have learned how to exploit this to their advantage.

  14. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

    Not even really a nurse

    Still worth it if she wears the uniform.

    Well, not really. I don't think this quite deserves the "Joke Alert" icon, but I am joking - I think.

    I also should clarify that I mean the nurse uniform, not the Star Trek uniform that someone mentioned.

    If she wears the 1960s Star Trek female uniform - that IS worth it. Am I right, guys?

    1. Steven Roper
      Thumb Up

      Re: Not even really a nurse

      "If she wears the 1960s Star Trek female uniform - that IS worth it. Am I right, guys?"

      Oh, absolutely. There was a period of 60s-70s-80s sci-fi shows where such outfits were standard issue for female characters - Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica (original), Logan's Run (both movie and TV series), and the first season of Star Trek: TNG come to mind.

      For me, those little miniskirts or shifts are the hottest outfit a woman can wear - they turn me on way more than things like hot pants, daisy dukes, bikinis, g-strings or even nudity!

      Unfortunately women's lib turned into feminism, and the admiration of the female form, which in the 60s and 70s was seen as "empowering", was transmuted into "objectification" or whatever the PC crowd call natural human desires these days.

      You can observe this transformation in Star Trek: TNG - in Season 1, you see loads of the female characters walking around in those iconic Trek minis, but somewhere in Season 2, they were replaced by businesslike long slacks. And in every sci-fi show since, they've invariably dressed women in baggy, sexless clothing for the most part, with only the occasional "sexy outfit" for a specific character once in a blue moon.

      A notable exception was Cleopatra 2525, but in that they used thigh straps and fishnets and punk makeup, which merely made the women look more like cheap whores than sexy godesses. And the complete lack of characterisation made it more a porno in a sci-fi setting than anything resembling actual sci-fi. It felt almost like it was done to spite fans of the old sci-fi shows rather than pander to them.

      This was made even worse with the "U.S.-militarization" of sci-fi, starting with Stargate and reaching its head in the reboot of Battlestar Galactica. Military-style uniforms became the order of the day, and it seems that portraying female characters in an even slightly sexy context has become declasse. These days a sexy outfit means putting the woman in baggy pants and a tank top or singlet revealing her (gasp!) bare shoulders! But Heaven forbid displaying a decent length of leg or anything else for that matter.

      I wonder if we'll ever see the like of those old Star Trek/Buck Rogers outfits again?

      1. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

        Re: Militarization

        Stargate SG-1 repeats are running currently. The Goa'uld get first pick from the dressing-up box, yes, but sometimes they pick real good. And the heroes from Earth are usually in camouflage wear, but once in a while they put Amanda Tapping in a nice frock, and God saw that it was good. Currently it"s the episodes where Daniel Jackson is transcended and keeps showing up in a white woolen sweater and without his spectacles, which is probably making somebody happy.

  15. grammarpolice

    Too poor to pay for food?

    Try giving up ownership of a smartphone.

    1. Soruk
      FAIL

      Re: Too poor to pay for food?

      The linked article mentioned US$150/month - that's about £100/month - enough to keep me going for the best part of a year.

      She really needs to check her tariff, as she's being royally scammed by her mobile operator!

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    >cash-poor women who befriend them online before tricking them into paying for an expensive dinner for two

    Otherwise known as marriage.

  17. kbutler.toledo
    Happy

    Sucker for a pretty face/voice/tweet

    You go Girls!

  18. JT163
    FAIL

    Scam's a bit strong

    Bit sensationalist no?

    At worst these are chick "pickup artists".

    Not really much different to the male gamers who are trying to pick them up with one thing (a different thing) on their minds.

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