Arrests were made in 1,808 cases of Internet crime, up by six cases from the
same period last year and the highest since 2003 when police started compiling
similar half-year data.
For child prostitution (in some cases referred to enjo kosai or compensated
dating), in which minors meet with adult clients on dating and other websites,
the number of cases jumped 62.7 percent to 275.
"We will promote activity to ban children from using dating websites while
pushing ahead with spreading filtering on cellphones," the National Police
Agency said in a report.
Young Japanese often surf websites specially designed to be viewed on
cellphones.
Online auction fraud remained the leading cyber crime, with 490 cases but the
figure was down 33.2 percent from last year.
Agence France-Presse
