My mom calls me at 2 in the morning yesterday asking me whether I had just called my grandma in Tokyo. I groggily say "no" and explain I've been asleep for 4 hours trying to get an early start the next morning and that this wasn't helping. She responds by telling me someone had just called grandma saying "It's me, I'm here and I'm coming over tomorrow." No name, just "it's me". She naturally asks if it were Tak since I had called her a week prior to let her know I was arriving in 2 weeks and the caller says "yes". By this time my uncle who lives in the same house senses something odd and picks up. He asks where the caller (fake Tak) is calling from but no straight answer. I'm not sure how the call ended but my uncle said the voice was similar to mine and that he repeatedly stated he was coming over tomorrow.

Now, this sort of thing is a common fraudulent tactic in Japan where an anonymous caller would make a house call, hook onto any information given up by the person answering (i.e. name of a nephew, a cousin, a child) and state that they were in trouble and needed cash. If you fell for it, you would be racing to the nearest bank to deposit a requested amount in an account somewhere and never see it again. No harm done, really. Just a sour taste of being a sucker when you realize you've been had. Whatevs. But in this case, I'm hoping it was just coincidence that this sort of call came a week away from my arrival. That's what's really creepin' me out.

Duping people out of money happens in any country and in a meriad of styles but this sort of shit is below the belt, man. Seriously. My grandma's 84 and is blind in one eye. She was stressing over what to make for dinner when fake Tak arrived the next day. My uncle assured her he wasn't coming.

Fuck you, fake Tak. Fuck you.

TAK