Aug 7, 2026 — FSA and six other agencies ask major SNS platforms to strengthen countermeasures
On August 7, 2026 (Reiwa 8), Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA), together 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, issued a joint request to large-scale operators of SNS and similar services, asking them to strengthen countermeasures against impersonation fraud ads. The request document is published as a PDF on the FSA website. Impersonation fraud ads use the names and photos of celebrities or of real financial institutions and registered financial instruments business operators without permission, then steer users into investment solicitations through SNS ads or messaging apps. What stands out here is that seven agencies covering finance, policing, consumer affairs, telecommunications, justice and industry moved together, and directed their request at the platforms that carry the ads. Contact points were also named: for matters under FSA laws, the Securities Division of the Banking and Securities Supervision Bureau (syouken_mutouroku@fsa.go.jp) and the Crypto-Asset and Stablecoin Division (shikinkasou@fsa.go.jp); for the request as a whole, the Digital Agency's Strategy and Organization Group (impostor-ad@digital.go.jp).
Foreign residents are in a weaker position to judge whether a Japanese financial institution's name or a Japanese-language ad is genuine, which makes impersonation ads especially effective against them. Many are invited into native-language community groups or investment chats on SNS, where the name of a well-known Japanese company is dropped and there is little easy way to verify it. If platforms tighten screening and takedowns as requested, the volume of such ads users see should fall. Still, the request is addressed to businesses — it does not remove the need for users to protect themselves. In Japan, any operator selling or soliciting financial products must be registered, and registration status can be checked on the FSA website. If you are victimized, your residence status is not immediately at issue, so do not hesitate to consult the police or a consumer affairs center.
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