A PREDATORY network of anonymous online mobsters are duping teens by promising them jobs - only to then force them into a life of crime.

Digital gangsters recruit cash-hungry Gen Z teens on social media and use them to commit one-off crimes on their behalf which can range from robberies to child sex trafficking.

This disturbing phenomenon is known as Tokuryū - a phrase coined in Japan - as cyber crooks exploit social media savvy and naive young people.

Japan has seen an explosion of freelance crime using this method - and it comes amid decline of their traditonal gangsters, the Yakuza , who hit record low membership in 2024.

These one-and-done odd jobs are called yami-baito, which roughly translates to "shady casual work".

And cops are struggling to adapt to this new generation

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