An elderly woman was devastated and broke after she was tricked into sending a ton of money to a man who was pretending to be an astronomer.
A Japanese newspaper reported last week that a man who claimed to be a Russian cosmonaut took a Japanese woman's money after he said he needed it.
He wanted to start a life with her in Japan if she paid for his ride home.
It has left us wondering how anyone could fall for such a ruse. You would think that astronauts pay up front for their return tickets.
The woman was persuaded by name-dropping space agencies like NASA and JAXA.
There is no cell service in space, and astronauts rely on an internet-connected phone, which is why the woman was told that when he was out of contact.
It's not necessary for astronauts to raise funds to get back to Earth because that's included in the ticket price.
It's not clear if the con artist was arrested or if the woman's money was recovered, but the woman wised up and reported the scam to the police.
In 2016 a man who claimed to be Nigeria's first astronauts said he was stuck on a Soviet craft and needed $3 million to come home.
There is no way anyone who's on the space station is hurting for money if someone tells you they're an astronomer.
Saudi Arabia just bought two tickets to the International Space Station.
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