A 65 - year - old fair sex in Japan paid the equivalent weight of $ 30,000 in a late online scam that defy gravity . The con artist tricked the cleaning woman into believe he was a Russian astronaut who just could n’t afford a tag back to Earth , local media in Japanreported .
The pair start match through Instagram on June 28 , and the scammer arrogate that he was a astronaut on board theInternational Space Station ( ISS ) . He blamed the poor cell armed service aboard the orbiting distance station for his want of communicating at times . Things between them quickly escalated when the imitation astronaut professed his erotic love to her , claiming that he would require to get hitched with her once back on Earth . Except there was one problem , he but could not get off the ISS unless he had enough money for a drive back to Earth .
so as to rendezvous with her online lover , the adult female ended up transmit him 4.4 million hankering ( about $ 30,000 ) so that he could hop on a projectile and leave the microgravity environs behind , Nipponese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported . However , even farseeing - distance love has a price limit , and the victim soon grew tired of the astronaut ’s increasing pecuniary requirement . After making a sum of five money transportation between August 19 and September 5 , she finally reported him to the police .
The scammer claimed he wanted to return to Earth and start a new life in Japan.Illustration: Marc Ward/Stocktrek Images (AP)
The victim was sold on the pictures of infinite the self - proclaim astronaut put up on his Instagram pageboy , and the fact that he could namedrop blank space agencies like NASA and JAXA ( Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ) . But everything else about his story was inaccurate , starting with the fact that the ISS has no cell avail . rather , astronaut utilise the so - called Space web , a web of communication satellites and ground - based aerial , to broadcast information back to Earth . So , they likely do not pass their time scrolling on Instagram . The ISS also does not work like an airport , where you need to reserve a tag to return back to Earth . Space government agency like NASA devote about $ 50 - 55 million to get one of its astronauts up to the ISS and , more late , individual astronautscan pay for their own tickets to get on the station . That cost , however , does let in a return tripper back to Earth .
AquanautsNASAOuter spaceScienceSpaceflight
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