New Delhi: Japan has turned to artificial intelligence to tackle rising cases of cyber crime in the country. And the fight is being led by a new police chief — an AI avatar named AIko.
AIko, whose name combines ‘AI’ and ‘ko’, which is a common suffix in Japanese women’s names, was deployed by Osaka Prefectural Police in May. In a video on the police’s YouTube channel, AIko, who has the face and voice of a young woman, appears wearing a blue police uniform with a police chief badge, as she spreads awareness on cyber frauds.
In one of the videos, AIko warned against criminals who pose as police officers online and defraud citizens. She also showed scam tactics often employed by such imposters.
“No police officers show their IDs and arrest warrants online,” the AI police chief said in her “crime prevention class”.
AIko has been deployed with the aim to reach younger citizens who are vulnerable to cyber crimes on social media but don’t resonate with traditional public announcements.
The AI police chief is the brain child of Toshinori Hirano, a visiting professor at Kagawa University’s Cyber Security Centre.
Hirano, who worked with Osaka police before building AIko, told Kyodo that he hopes to “heighten crime prevention awareness by utilizing technology.”
The police said cyber criminals in Japan have been targeting people online by posing as not only police officers, but also as romantic partners and celebrities promoting investments, reported Kyodo.
Police data shows that about half of the people who fell for such frauds last year in Osaka Prefecture were aged 64 or younger.
Also read: Ford Motors gets a reality check. It rehires 300 engineers after AI flops
Spike in online frauds
In 2025, Japan witnessed a sharp rise in frauds involving social media investments, where victims lost 324.1 billion yen (over $2 billion), reported Nikkei Asia, citing a law enforcement report released in February 2026.
This was a jump of 60 per cent from the 199 billion yen victims lost to phone and social media scams in 2024.
“We’re in an extremely critical situation, and this is seen as one of the major factors worsening the public’s perception of safety,” Yoshinobu Kusunoki, the commissioner-general of Japan’s National Police Agency, told reporters.
The spike in cyber crime has been attributed to growing overseas criminal organisation, especially in Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos.
The Nikkei Asia report said such organisations recruit fraudsters from Japan and other regions to dupe victims through social media or phone. Authorities have identified a few scam centres operating from hotels and casinos in Cambodia.