Fake police officers scamming cyclists in Japan with ‘fines’ for jumping red lights and failing to signal

Scammers in Japan are taking advantage of the country’s new stricter ‘blue ticket’ system for cycling offences by impersonating police officers and stopping cyclists on the street, accusing them of breaking traffic rules and forcing them to pay bogus fines on the spot.

In April, cyclists in Japan became subject to a mandatory minimum 5,000 yen (£25) fine for cycling without lights at night, riding through red lights, cycling while wearing earphones, riding two-abreast, and even holding an umbrella as they ride their bike.

These so-called ‘blue ticket’ offences represent a continuation of Japan’s clampdown on cycling conduct, and followed previous recent revisions to the country’s Road Traffic Act, including stricter penalties – including driving bans – for cycling while drunk or using a phone.

According to Japan’s National Police Agency, 2,147 cyclists were fined under the ‘blue ticket’ system during the first month of its implementation.

> Japan bans 1,500 people caught drunk cycling from driving, under first year of stricter traffic rules

846 of the cyclists reprimanded by police in April were fined 5,000 yen for failing to come to a halt at stop signs, while 298 were issued a 6,000 yen (£28) penalty for riding through red lights. Roughly a third of April’s blue tickets were a result of phone use on the bike, with 713 cyclists fined 12,000 yen (£56) for scrolling while cycling.

The police also issued 135,855 warnings to cyclists for less serious offences in April, an increase on the number of warnings dished out during the same period last year, the Japan Times reports.

However, Japan’s crackdown on rule-breaking cyclists has seemingly inspired the country’s opportunistic fraudsters, with reports of scammers posing as police officers, wielding fake replicas of blue tickets, and demanding money from cyclists becoming widespread in recent weeks.

Earlier this week, Fukuoka Prefectural Police Department reported that an 18-year-old university student handed over 8,000 yen (£37) to a scammer posing as a plain-clothes police officer, who told him that he had violated the Road Traffic Act by failing to perform hand signals while turning (a manoeuvre not included in the act’s revised list of offences).

A similar incident occurred in mid-April in Oyama City, 100km north of Tokyo, when a man riding on a pedestrian crossing was stopped by a motorist, before two men stepped out of the car and confronted him.

“Got a minute? That’s a red light violation,” one of the men said, identifying himself as “Yamanishi from the Oyama Police Station Traffic Division,” despite wearing plain clothes and failing to produce any police badges.

“The fine is 15,000 yen. Can you pay it now?” the fake officer demanded, handing the hesitant cyclist what local media described as a convincing replica of a blue ticket, before telling him: “If you don’t pay now, you’ll be arrested.”

The cyclist then handed over 15,000 yen (£70), despite being convinced that he had not cycled through a red light. Shortly after the incident, he flagged down a passing police car to contest the fine, and was informed by the city’s real officers that he had just been scammed.

And on 4 April, a teenage boy in Hiroshima was also tricked into paying 2,000 yen (£9) to a fake police officer deploying a similar blue ticket scam.

In response to these reports, Japan’s National Police Agency has issued a warning to cyclists to be aware of such scams, while calling for anyone who spots fraud taking place to report it to police immediately.

The agency also emphasised that genuine officers would never require cycling rule-breakers to pay a fine on the spot. Instead, anyone handed a blue ticket must pay the fine within seven days, either from a post office or a bank.

> 900 cyclists caught drunk cycling banned from driving cars in Japan, as authorities say offenders “likely to pose a significant danger when driving”

While its implementation has led to a rise in opportunistic scamming, Japan’s recent clampdown on cycling offences has also resulted in a large number of rule-breaking riders being taken off the road entirely.

In March, we reported that 1,507 cyclists had their driving licence suspended for riding their bike under the influence of alcohol in 2025, dramatically up from just 23 people in 2024, a surge attributed to the country’s harsher ‘red ticket’ traffic laws introduced last year.

While the new law has not meant traffic violations when cycling can result in penalty points, the authorities have been granted powers to issue suspensions of up to six months if they believe a person would likely cause significant danger as a driver.

The country’s police chiefs said at the time that anyone who is willing to ride a bicycle while under the influence would also “pose a serious risk of traffic danger if they drive cars”.

The current crackdown on drink cycling in Japan – a nation where alcohol is traditionally viewed as a social lubricant, especially in business situations, and where the sight of a cyclist riding home after a few beers is a common one – comes amid concerns that cycling is becoming increasingly dangerous.

Since the boom in cycling’s popularity in the country in the wake of the Covid pandemic, while the number of collisions on the road are decreasing in general, collisions involving cyclists are on the rise.

Over 72,000 road traffic incidents involving people on bikes were recorded in Japan in 2023, accounting for around 20 per cent of all collisions in the country. In 2024, there were 67,531 bike-related collisions.

> Cyclists caught looking at phones in Japan could face up to six months in jail, as new stricter cycling laws take effect

Along with imposing tougher penalties on drunk cycling, the revised Road Traffic Act also stipulated that any cyclist who uses their phone in any capacity, for calls, texts, or just general scrolling, will be subject to a maximum jail sentence of six months, or a fine of 100,000 yen (£468).

In cases where a cyclist’s phone-use results in a collision, a maximum penalty of a year’s imprisonment, or a fine of 300,000 yen (roughly £1,500) can be imposed.

Announcing the law in 2024, the National Police Agency suggested the number of collisions caused by cyclists on their phones jumped by more than 50 per cent to 454 between 2018 and 2022.

An official from the agency said the rise in phone-related collisions – which, the Japanese government says, have resulted in the deaths of pedestrians – could be attributed not only to the ubiquitous presence of smartphones, but also the increasing variety of video and gaming content available on them.

“Making a call with a smartphone in your hand while cycling, or watching the screen, is now banned and subject to punishment,” an agency leaflet said.