The number of investment scams perpetrated via social media has been rising sharply in Japan since July 2023 amid growing public interest in stock trading on the back of advances in the Japanese market, police data showed Thursday. The number of such scams conducted monthly using Facebook, Instagram and other social media jumped from 204 last July to 369 in December, the National Police Agency said. The rise in the previous six months was from 85 to 120. Damage amounted to some 27.79 billion yen ($187 million), with many scams involving victims making multiple transfers to accounts in a short …