Elderly woman scammed by 'Russian astronaut' who needed a ticket back to Earth

A 65-year-old Japanese woman was swindled out of about 4.4 million yen ($30,000) by a man claiming to be a Russian astronaut stranded on the International Space Station because he could not afford the trip back to Earth, according to local reports.

The woman, who lives near Kyoto in Shiga Prefecture, told authorities that the pair connected on social media before taking their communications to the popular messaging app Line, according to Kyodo News.

The con artist blamed poor cell service aboard the orbiting space station for his sporadic communications, reports Gizmodo citing local media.

The supposed cosmonaut repeatedly told her he loved her and proposed marriage upon his return to Earth, according to police.

But the person said the one thing keeping them apart was the cost of leaving the ISS and asked her to send money for a rocket and its “landing fees” on Earth.

Authorities said the woman transferred money to a bank account specified by the mysterious astronaut between August and September.

The woman sent a total of around 4.4 million yen, or $30,000, in five money transfers before she grew tired of the strangers increasing monetary demands and reported him to police.

The scammer sold his victim on the ruse with photos of space he posted to an Instagram page and deft use of space-related terms like NASA and JAXA, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Gizmodo noted that everything else about the Russian cosmonaut’s story was inaccurate, noting that the ISS uses the so-called Space Network, a network of communications satellites, to keep in touch with their Earth-bound coworkers instead of traditional cell phone service.

It also mentioned that although private space flights are now available, they usually include a return trip home.

Another Japanese woman in her 40s was targeted by a similar Instagram account but got suspicious after the “astronaut” suggested they move their conversation to Line.