"Like A Video Game": Japan's Criminal Gangs Hire Online

Hired to impersonate a police officer, she thrived, wheedling hundreds of thousands of dollars out of Japan's many lonely, wealthy and naive elderly people on the phone.

Risa Yamada grew up fatherless and struggled to find consistent work until she stumbled on an intriguing job listing: one of a growing number of advertisements posted on social media by Japanese criminal gangs.

Hired to impersonate a police officer, she thrived, wheedling hundreds of thousands of dollars out of Japan's many lonely, wealthy and naive elderly people on the phone.

"I didn't think I could ever work a normal job," the 27-year-old told a Tokyo court in July before being sentenced to three years in jail.