Phantom Cherry Blossom - Traps for the Strategy Business and Housewives (Early 2000s)

Phantom Cherry Blossom - Traps for the Strategy Business and Housewives (Early 2000s)

In the early 2000s, Japan's pachinko industry still boasted a huge market, but behind the scenes, there was widespread anxiety about household finances and a thirst for additional income. According to a former employee of a strategy company, when information sales went downhill, the scamming tactics changed to "recruiting cherry-picking" and "recruiting hammers. A housewife in Yamagata City, Japan, believed in the words, "You will surely make money," and became elated with her first accidental win, eventually losing more than 5 million yen. The Oleore scam had become popular in the society, and the scamming of money by phone and wire transfer was rampant. The scam was an extension of this trend, and the victims were made to believe that they had made the investment of their own volition.
The strategy companies shared customer information with each other, creating a structure from which there was no escape. The target of the scam was not money but trust, and the illusion of "specially selected customers" was exploited. This case is a symbol of an era in which economic despair and the illusion of an information society intersect, and reflects the dark side of 2000s Japan, where hope itself has become a commodity.