After some exchanges, the scammer one day told her he was “in space on a spaceship right now” but was “under attack and in need of oxygen,” the official said.
The scammer then urged her to pay him online to help him buy oxygen, and successfully hoodwinked around 1 million yen ($6,700) out of her.
Sometimes to white people as well (who are, of course, not Japanese, but OK as far as barbarians go). Chinese/Koreans (including Japanese-born, Japanese-speaking descendants of Korean migrants who are nonetheless not racially Japanese) are regarded with disdain, and Africans are often seen as borderline subhuman. (Not by all Japanese people, but these attitudes are common and people will admit to them in a way that few will in the USA/Europe.)