Ammon News - A Japanese woman in her 80s lost thousands of dollars to a fake astronaut who conned her into believing he needed her support with an urgent spaceship problem, police said.

The romance scam began in July, when the elderly woman, based in Hokkaido, connected with the swindler on social media, AFP and Sky News reported.

Eventually, the con artist said he was "in space on a spaceship right now," and was "under attack and in need of oxygen," the police officer told AFP, adding that the woman was convinced she needed to send money online to help her love interest purchase oxygen.

The woman lives alone, AFP added, citing local media outlets, and was ultimately cheated out of approximately 1 million yen, or about $6,700.

People