- A 25-year-old Japanese sugar baby has been sentenced to nine years in prison.
- A court has ruled that Mai Watanabe defrauded men she met on dating apps out of more than $1 million.
- Watanabe also sold a manual on how to run similar scams, helping another woman in her efforts.
A 25-year-old “sugar baby” has been sentenced to nine years in prison for defrauding men she met on dating apps of more than $1 million and selling a manual on how to run similar scams.
Mai Watanabe, also known as “itadaki joshi Riri-chan,” which translates to “sugar baby Riri,” was sentenced Monday by the Nagoya District Court, The Japan Times reported.
The outlet reported that Watanabe was also fined 8 million yen, or about $52,000.
According to the court ruling, Watanabe defrauded three men in their 50s out of a total of about 55.8 million yen, or about $1 million, between 2021 and 2023, the Japanese news agency reported.
She scammed a victim out of 117 million yen, or about $756,000, by convincing her she needed the money to pay off a debt, according to the Kyodo news agency, which added that she used a similar story to defraud the other two men.
Nippon reported that Watanabe used most of the money to make payments to men’s host clubs in Tokyo’s Kabukichō district.
In these clubs, female patrons pay for the company of men and are often served drinks and flirted with the male guests.
Kyodo, citing the court ruling, said Watanabe was also found guilty of creating a manual explaining how to run similar scams.
The Jiji Press news agency said she sold the manual to a 21-year-old woman in 2022, helping her scam someone out of about 10 million yen, or just over $64,000. .
The news agency said Watanabe was also convicted of tax fraud by hiding about a quarter of the scam’s proceeds.
Being a sugar baby can be financially rewarding. A freelance writer previously told Business Insider that she was paid up to $500 for dates and was treated to designer clothes, expensive dinners and stays in luxury hotels.
For sugar daddies – older men who pay younger women – this can sometimes offer a form of companionship, whether platonic or otherwise.
But if they’re not careful, they risk falling victim to romance scams.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission received 64,003 reports of romance scams in 2023, representing total losses of more than $1.1 billion.
The median loss per person, at $2,000, was higher than in any other type of imposter scam, the FTC noted.
According to a 2023 report from the commission, nearly 60% of people who lost money to a romance scam that year first made contact with the scammer through social media, sites Web or applications.
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