Japan is one of the countries with a low crime rate. Although a lot of Japanese that are kind-hearted and honest, there’s still some who have bad motives when it comes to business.

Get to experience the modern technology fused with Japan’s history and culture in Tokyo. It is the capital of Japan wherein you can find a lot of establishments from day and night. It is a must-see place when you’re visiting the country. A lot of shops and restaurants can be found in the area. However, people still need to have an attentive eye because fraudsters may be lurking for their next target.

Japan is proud to have a delectable cuisine. You can try out different restaurants in Tokyo but keep an eye out because you may fall for a Tokyo restaurant scam.

Ways to avoid restaurant scam

Most locals and a lot of tourists prefer to dine at a restaurant than cook their own meals. It is convenient compared to cooking your own food at home. Nowadays, restaurants are also used as a part of a fraud activity.

You can opt for an affordable eating place or go to a luxurious restaurant to have your meal. Even if there are a lot of selections, it is suggested to wary of the restaurants you choose when it comes to your food. You may probably fall for a restaurant scam if you notice these signs:

• If a wait staff usher you quickly in the restaurant without even saying yes.
• If you end up not feeling right about the menu or wait staff, don’t be afraid to get up and leave if you’ve been brought into a restaurant.
• The pictures on the menu don’t match what you ordered. Most of the time, the picture shows what they will serve. There you’ll see how many pieces or how big is the serving size of the food you ordered.
• The taste of the foods you order is tasteless. The restaurant may have used low-quality ingredients or haven’t properly prepared your food.
• Check if the staff treats the Japanese customers and foreigners differently.
• Review the prices on the menu and the items on your bill to know if they give you the right bill. There’s a chance that they add items you didn’t even order. Get a hold of the menu to calculate how much you spent. If there are discrepancies in the total bill, try to contest the cost.
• To take note of the prices, you can ask about taxes and extra fees. If it doesn’t match the bill and you noticed triple or quadruple the cost, you probably you got scammed.
• Always ask for an official receipt. If they don’t hand you one, there’s a big risk that they overpriced your bill.

The law of Japan states that the menu prices should include taxes and other charges. This Japanese law is created to avoid fraud and false pricing. It is also a way against misrepresentation. If you have an odd feeling about the place, the best thing to do is to avoid or leave the restaurant before you order anything.

In 2013, some restaurants in Japan have been linked to food scam. Their menu has deceived the diners and lied about their profit.

Hankyu Hanshin Hotels Co. disclosed that dozens of its restaurants misrepresented the food on their menus. The “revelations” that emerged affected several other establishments around the nation that did the same thing.

The Ritz-Carlton hotel in Osaka, another famous hotel, along with the Renaissance Sapporo Hotel in Hokkaido also admitted in using some ingredients and products that are cheaper and low quality. They did not use the premium items to cook the meals advertised on their menus. Another prestigious accommodation, the Imperial Hotel Ltd., admitted they had served frozen juice that was labelled as “fresh” at the restaurants in their Tokyo and Osaka branches.

According to the Renaissance Sapporo General Manager Hiroshi Harata, they call the big prawns as Japanese tiger and the small ones as ‘shiba’ shrimp. In reality, the hotel was using cheap shrimp at its Chinese restaurant. It is far different from the shrimp they had listed on their menu.

The Imperial Hotel admitted that they had served orange and grapefruit juices from May 2006 until May 2007. They disclosed that the freshly squeezed juice was procured in frozen form from a Tokyo supplier. Due to controversy, the hotel now serves their “fresh” juices using freshly squeezed fruits.

The high-end restaurants in luxury hotels often promote their sophisticated services, along with the quality of their food products. However, their air of exclusivity may not match the costs in the kitchen. The government has imposed the regulations on food labelling. The directive also includes the posting the origin of the products for the items sold in their shops. However, the regulations of the government do not apply to restaurant menus.

The food fraud cases in Japan fall under the scope of a general law. The Consumers Affairs Agency studies about the cases. It is linked to the competition policy law that prevents all types of businesses from mislabelling their products. The credibility of the restaurant menus can only be left in the hands of those who run the food business.

The menu serves as one of the promotional materials of the restaurants. It entices the diners because it depicts the ingredients they use to cook their meals. However, this is false advertising which has also surfaced at other restaurants in Japan. The Shikoku Railway Co. subsidiary in Tokushima and Ehime prefectures, as well as the hotels in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, and Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, admitted that they have also fooled the people using their menu.

Food labelling can easily be confused with upscale products that are regulated by the Agricultural Standards Law. The sad thing is, a lot of restaurants think they are above the law. They are also above the new food labelling law that includes the Agricultural Standards Law. According to the government, they restaurants are unregulated which empowers them to trick the customers with their menu scam.

Hiring new employees is a crucial process to the success of any company or organization. The recruitment department does an important job in initial streamlining and selecting the potential people to work with the company.

The recruitment team is important to consider the job and the candidate. Their responsibility does not only begin with interviews and end with job offers. Instead, their job involves planning, as well as a consideration phase prior to an interview.

The recruiters have to deliberate on the job applicants before they pick a candidate for an interview. The process of employment starts with them, just like how the concepts for products and services are made.

The recruitment employees, together with the managers, need to consider the key aspects of the vacant position before they advertise the job opportunity to job portals. They also need to consider the interview process and selection of new employees to fill the opening.

Advantages of Recruitment

The recruitment department brings new talent to the organization. They may also help in developing a diverse team of employees by hiring a potential employee with the skills and experience. They are responsible with opening up the opportunities in finding the experienced and qualified candidates that a company or organization needs.

Businesses must have a great human resources team because they are in charge of bringing the best minds to be considered by the managers or higher-ups. The great thing about recruitment is they give the organization a competitive advantage. The company also benefits from human resource department because they garner awards and recognition to the noteworthy employees.

For companies with internal recruitment department, they have a direct way to review the applicant’s resumes and hire employees within the company. Compared to external recruitment, they have an existing company knowledge which is an advantage for employee training. they are also more knowledgeable when it comes to the goals, mission, and needs of the company or organization.

Due to the advancement of technology, selecting potential job candidates can be done online. Many employers are turning to e-recruiting to find qualified new employees to fill in the vacancies. Recruiting online is cost-effective and more affordable compared to advertising in newspapers or other media forms like print. It can also save time and it’s paperless because resumes can be sent electronically.

Recruiting online

In e-recruitment, interviews can be performed online by means of video calls. However, there is also a downside to this. One of the problems is it can be time-consuming and excruciating when checking the authenticity of thousands of applicants sending their CVs.

Another problem is that job seekers are at risk of a scam. There are recruitment opportunities posting malicious and illegitimate job openings that victimize a lot of job seekers. They pose as a recruiter for a company, promising an attractive offer, but their motive is just to get money from the hopeful job applicant.

There are different types of contribution plans created for employees. This article gives you some information about profit sharing plan which benefits the workforce of companies or organizations.

Employee benefits plan is one of the things that both existing and potential workforce look upon when working at a company or organization. It is somehow a sort of investment on their part, as well as a safety net when they reach the end of their employment.

What is profit sharing plan?

A profit sharing plan is a defined contribution plan which allows the companies to help their workforce to save for their retirement. Profit sharing contributions from the employer are discretionary and the company can decide from year to year what amount they will contribute to an employee’s plan. The company or organization also have the choice to whether contribute at all, especially if the company does not have a profit for the month or within a particular timeframe. When there is no profit obtained, it does not have to make contributions to the employees’ plan.

A company does not need to be lucrative just to have a profit-sharing plan. This type of contributions plan for the workforce is flexible. It is a great option for a retirement plan that can be affordable for small businesses or even other businesses of any size. It also aligns the financial well-being of the employees to the success of the company.

Contributions

There is no set or a particular amount that must be contributed to a profit sharing plan every year. Companies can set a maximum amount that can be contributed to the plan for each of their employees. The amount depends on the fluctuation of inflation over time. The maximum contribution amount for a profit sharing plan is lesser than the compensation. When determining the employer and employee contributions, the amount of the employee’s salary that can be taken into consideration is limited.

How it works

Unlike other types of contribution plan participants, the employees with profit sharing plans do not create their own contributions. The company they work for can have other types of retirement plans along with a profit sharing plan. It is like an add-on plan for the company. The companies who avail this plan review and do the calculations, planning, and paperwork.

The employees can get their profit shares in the form of company stock or cash. A qualified tax-deferred retirement account receives the contributions. The account allows penalty-free distributions to be taken after the age of 59 1/2.

There are also plans that offer a combination of cash together with deferred benefits. The cash is distributed and taxed directly at ordinary income rates which works like a retirement contribution with an annual bonus.

An employee can use the profit sharing plan as a form of a loan which they can use for personal or emergency purposes. If an employee leaves the company, he or she can move the assets form of the plan into a Rollover IRA. All the distributions taken before age 59 1/2 is subjected to a 10% penalty.

Sadly, the rates of complaint on scammers are on the rise. They are victimizing a lot of job-seekers looking by offering fictitious job opportunities that are posted on job boards. Unsuspecting job seekers are being conned into parting with their hard-earned money. They are also the usual victims of identity theft.

What is a recruitment scam?

A recruitment or job scam occurs when a crook posed as an employer or recruiter. These criminals offer desirable employment opportunities to people who are looking for jobs. It becomes a scam when the recruiter requires the job seeker to pay money in advance.

Recruitment becomes illegitimate when it is under the guise of credit checks, work visas, travel expenses or background checks. They ask the individuals about their personal information, as well as their financial details. They might even ask their victims to pay a fee before they can surely land the job and start on the employment. Once the fee has been paid over, the scammer disappears and the would-be employee is left with no job and money.

Scammers have different techniques on how they operate the scam but they all have the same goal. They aim to obtain cash, as well as your confidential personal information which they can be used for identity theft.

Increasing complaints

Fraudsters have become more and more crafty in the way they operate their scam. The police received many complaints and there are pending cases still on review.

Job seekers must be vigilant when it comes to looking for job offers. It might be too good to be true that they may fall trap in the fraud job opening which is offered by illegitimate recruiters. They target both local and overseas job seekers, especially the aspirant immigrants and contractors. They lure them with huge salaries, paid travel grants, and even work permits to entice them to part with their money.

Recognizing a job scam

Scammers use tactics of promotions in luring job seekers to check out their offerings. If the recruiter sends you a link, do not submit any personal information yet. Using the website or any link they have provided may lead to identity theft.

It’s probably a scam if they require you to pay a fee in advance. That’s the golden rule when it comes to spotting a fraud job offer. Reputable companies do not ask for money from their employees. They typically shoulder the costs themselves.

Another warning sign in spotting a fake recruitment is if the recruiter offers a training for a job but requires you to allot a particular amount of money. No legitimate recruiter will ask for money upfront. It’s better to review the legitimacy of the company where the recruiter is working before complying with any request or requirement.

Can half a star make any difference? Online review for hotel and restaurant industry is crucial to the business. The ratings of a business may depend on different factors too.

Getting a good review is very important for restaurateurs and hotel owners. The customer’s review can make or break a business. A terrible review can close down restaurant but the good ones can boost takings.

Getting a good review

Customer ratings can affect the purchasing decision of consumers. Online star ratings can definitely affect the customers’ purchasing decisions, especially if it has a lot of good or bad review.

Based on a few studies, it is found that reviews can bring in the new customers. The increase in trade can happen even without any change in the quality of food and service, as well as prices. If a customer sees a good rating to a restaurant she’s planning to try out, then it would increase the chances of putting the plan into action.

Professors Michael Anderson and Jeremy Magruder, two economists at the University of California, Berkeley, have published their findings on the relationship between online star ratings and customers’ purchasing decisions. They probed 300 San Francisco restaurants and focused on the effects of positive online ratings. They collected the ratings to form a star system on Yelp.com, a popular US ratings site. They found that the half star rating can be improved and turn into full ratings at the peak dining times.

Getting a bad review

If restauranteurs and hotel owners appreciate the positive reviews, they surely don’t want to receive any negative rating. A bad review can affect the purchasing decision of potential customers or clients.

Any review will depend on the customer’s point of view. The negative rating may come from the poor service, quality of food, taste, and other various factors. Some customers also post a review to give warning. They use it as a way to inform others to try or not even attempt to try the services or products they have already experienced.

Customer ratings online

Customers are using online star rating system employed by sites like Toptable and Tripadvisor. Through those websites, they can give out stars and explain their experience during their stay.

Since we are in an age when everyone can be an online critic, the customer’s rating becomes significant. For new establishments, a good review from customers and clients is like a free advertisement. Through word of mouth or social media postings, the customers can attract their family or friends to try out the newly opened bakeshop or establishment they mentioned. It serves as a free promotion for the business.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested the manager of a beauty products company that is involved in selling fake products through the social-networking site called Mixi. The company has fraud a number of customers that are mainly women.

The authorities received a complaint on the company—Francesca Bianchi. The Tokyo police officers took the manager of beauty products company in their custody. The 40-year-old, Mayumi Okata, along with four other employees were apprehended by the authorities due to a business violation and reported fraudulent transactions. The suspects were involved in the violation of the special business transaction laws concerning false claims in the conditions of their contract.

The company is located in Minato Ward. According to reports, the people that were captured by the police have been able to coerce 400 women between the ages 22 to 35. The victims were persuaded to agree to contracts for beauty treatments and products worth 500 million yen. The value for both the services and products of each contract was between 100,000 and 2.5 million yen.

A group of three women that includes a 29-year-old female from Musashino City, filed a complaint with the authorities. They reported about being brought to Francesca Bianchi through Mixi. The victims were forced to sign contracts extending between November of 2011 and June of 2012. According to their report, the company told them that the regular price for 20 sessions is four million yen. However, they will be given discounts for consideration. They were told that they can get the offer for the same treatment for 1.5 million yen.

The women were attracted to the offer because they are fond of using beauty products, as well as having beauty enhancement treatments. On June 2012, the Tokyo Metropolitan government released a warning to women to be aware of this type of scam. The authorities also ordered the suspension of the Francesca Bianchi’s company operations.

Beauty shops in Japan

The locals and tourists visiting in Japan can find a lot of beauty shops. Tokyo has a lot of shops that offer merchandises for women who love to buy skin and hair care, as well as other types of beauty products.

For drugstore cosmetics, Matsumoto Kiyoshi is one of the recommended shops. Many beauty junkies take a trip to this drugstore because they offer a wide array of beauty products, interesting snacks, and even eye drops for tired eyes. People can find a lot of practical buys in the store. Matsumoto Kiyoshi has the biggest drugstore chains in Tokyo with a yellow and blue signboard.

For high-end cosmetics, Isetan Shinjuku is one of the top choices. It is the best place to purchase luxury cosmetics. Their beauty section spans over two storeys and they house both local and western big name brands.

To avoid getting involved in any scam, it is recommended that people buy from registered and legitimate stores. It is also a way to prevent in buying fake products that may harm the skin and may bring adverse effect to health.

In 2017, the reports of online shopping fraud have reached to 56 percent. Different complaint has surged in Hong Kong this year. Due to the ballooning rates of reports, it has prompted the local police of the country to step up their cyber patrols and intelligence team so that they can effectively crack down on internet fraudsters.

5.7 million HK dollars has been lost to various scam between January and June. The huge amount has moved the authorities to heighten their efforts to apprehend the people behind the crime.

Online shopping in Hong Kong

Due to the popularity of e-commerce websites and online shops, shopping became convenient. Purchasing products and even services can be done online. A lot of people use this new way of shopping because it is hassle-free and easy to use.

However, although it is more convenient to use online shopping for purchasing products, the number of complaint from customers is increasing. According to the latest official figures, the number of complaint about online shopping fraud increased to 872 in just the first six months of the year. The number has almost doubled from 559 reposts in the same period last year. The total amount of losses reached HK$5.7 million that happened in the period between January and June. It has reached 54 percent year on year.

The biggest case came from a victim conned into buying a luxury handbag worth HK$66,000. The item was never delivered and the victim lost the huge amount of money paid to the fraud seller.

19 men and 11 women aged between 17 and 51 were apprehended by the police. Four ringleaders and nine other suspects from four syndicates are included on the police watch list, along with 17 suspects. They are suspected to hold bank accounts used to collect crime proceeds. They were arrested due to money laundering complaint. The authorities found out that two of the people that were apprehended had been charged with obtaining property by deception.

Cybercrime

According to Raymond Lam Cheuk-ho, superintendent of the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau, online shopping has become prevalent in Hong Kong. It is the main factor why many people are getting involved in scam and led to the surge of complaint on fraud.

Hong Kong’s police force found that scammers pose as vendors on shopping and auction websites. The use different tactics to trick and cheat shoppers. They may sell products like electronics, luxury watches, baby clothes, handbags, concert tickets, and more. However, the problem arises when the merchandise that the customers ordered never delivered to them.

The swindlers working behind the scam also posed as shoppers. They use bounced cheques to cheat money out of legitimate sellers. Authorities have also found out that online fraudsters operate by paying holders of bank accounts between HK$1,000 and HK$3,000 to use their accounts to collect their criminal proceeds.

The reports on fraud must serve as a warning to internet users to be aware and cautious when making purchases or even selling goods online.

Any company or organization must provide some benefits plan for their employees. The United States Legal Services provides a voluntary legal benefits plan created for employees. Instead of losing their focus by attending to their legal matters, this legal benefits plan helps the employees to focus their attention on their work.

Another advantage of the employee benefits package gives access to preventive medicine or dentistry. This also includes an access to preventive law services for the employees. The company who availed the package give their staff a no-cost enhancement to the existing benefits package of the company. It provides an easy to access to legal insurance plans and your employees have an affordable way to prevent and/or resolve their legal issues.

Group legal benefits plans

The benefits plan for group legal setting provides peace of mind for both the company and their employees. When the employees have to deal with concerns such as legal issues, they became unfocused and unmotivated at work. Their burdens are sometimes brought in the workplace which results in poor job performance and decreased productivity.

This affects their work performance because of absenteeism. Employees may get too stressed or sick which results in increased healthcare costs. A lot of companies review the advantages of a benefits plan for their workforce and saw that they can also profit from it.

Providing a voluntary legal benefits plan in place, the employees will have a peace of mind because they’ll be prepared when legal matters arise. They will not get distracted by their legal concerns. This will also help in reducing the employees’ concerns about the costs of legal services.

Financial headache

According to a report from the American Psychological Association, personal finances are at the top of the list when it comes to causes of stress. Debt, involvement to a scam, or other financial problems usually lead to immediate legal assistance.  However, employees with legal problems hesitate to consult an attorney due to the fear of not meeting the expenses of the legal services.

One cause of financial headaches is the fees for legal representation that needs to be paid. The productivity of employees with this kind of problem is affected. The legal benefits plan from the United States Legal Services helps both the employees and the organization to reap the benefits of having quality yet affordable legal services readily available.

The legal benefit plans make the company more competitive because it motivates the employees, as well as improve the productivity of the workforce. A comprehensive benefits plan helps the company or organization to retain outstanding employees and attract potential employees with the needed skills and experience. The U.S. Legal Services helps the companies to offer benefits that attract most desirable candidates which gives them a great reason to go to work for you.

If you received travel awards or won a free cruise, it seems like a great news. However, before you collect on your prize, better to check the legitimacy of the deal. In 2011, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) retrieved over 1,300 complaints regarding cruise line deals and free-cruise scams.

There were companies that engage in free-cruise schemes that require the customers to comply with extra charges and deposits. But what’s worse is the people who paid the fees did not receive the services promised.

Fraud offers

Not every cruise deal is a scam but you have to make sure that the prize is legitimate. A cruise serves as a means of transportation and a destination resort, as well. Don’t fall victim to certain cruise scams so you won’t suffer some of the problems. You can look for signs to determine whether the free cruise is the real deal or it’s a fraud offer.

Cybercriminals get their profit by targeting travellers and offering them a fraud travel offer. It can be enticing to some because who can resist free or discounted deals? However, instead of saving money, the fraudsters stole the money and never send out the promised deal.

‘Free cruise’ scam dominates the reports of fraudulent offers online. It is a potentially dangerous scam that can compromise the customer’s identity, as well as other personal details. The scam involves asking their targets to open a link and fill out the required information for the upcoming cruise. This can endanger the victims’ identity and the computer or mobile devices they’re using, especially if the e-mail or the link contains malware.

Avoiding scam

Winning a travel prize requires a lot of luck. Even though not all travel offers are considered a scam, it’s still important to be vigilant about the situation so you can avoid getting involved in any fraudulent travel offer.

Before you comply, you need to research the name of the travel agency that gives you the cruise deal. You also have to look for the name of the agent and other company titles listed on the cruise offer. Consult trust rating websites like BBB and check the consumer’s evaluation to see if the offer has received a bad review. Using these resources, you may also find some names on the offer which might be associated with a scam.

Study the details of the offer and check if there are accommodations and services included. Check the fees and charges too. There might be some demand specifics for you to redeem the prize. If it involves paying a suspicious amount, it’s probably a fraud offer.

Getting on a cruise can give a wonderful experience but a scam can morph the dream to disaster. The motive of cybercriminals behind this type of scam waste the people’s time and money.