Crime Yami baito: like a video game

Black-market job advertisements have long appeared in Japanese magazines or on stickers in public toilets. But thanks to their proliferation online, recruiters now can "just relax in an air-conditioned room, sip coffee and use your mobile to assemble a group of robbers," criminal sociologist Noboru Hirosue said. Online platforms, especially encrypted messaging apps like Telegram and Signal, also help gangs remain nameless and untraceable. A 57-year-old former yami baito hiree described how his supervisor would direct him via Telegram to drop parcels of illicit cash in train station lockers in Tokyo. "It's like you're in a video game, where you're given tasks, complete missions and get rewards," the man, who spent time in jail but now works at a hostel, said on the condition of anonymity. At the end of each day, anonymous Telegram messages with emojis would thank him for his work and tell him where his day's pay lay hidden, waiting for him. "You don't even feel guilty because you don't see anyone," he said.

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